Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Man of Many Souls
by Fiery Gray
Summary: UNDER EDITING! (IIX): Everyone is battered, reeling and going into the last leg of the war on a loss. Scorpius finds himself out of school and in his toughest fight yet, struggling to keep his friends together as they fight a war predicted to end in failure while also still trying to find a way to save his cousin's soul before it destroys them both. Is all hope lost?
1. IIX: London's Burning

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter_

 _ **Author's Note:** And we're finally back for the final installment of the Gray saga! If you have not read the first seven books I recommend you do so as this won't make much sense to you otherwise and if you have then I hope you'll enjoy this last book. For anyone who asked questions on the preview chapter of book VII I reformatted the book and answered them in the last chapter of that not in this one so check that out. And I hope you like the book cover because this website did not and its taken me longer to get that uploaded then it did to draw the damn thing and write this whole chapter, that's why this is so late. That's all for now so... read on anyone who still is_

* * *

It was cold she noticed as she was carried by Specters to the outskirts of London, despite it being summer although she supposed it _was_ evening. The orange orb was sinking low on the horizon, the fading light mirroring off the river that ran through the city. Or maybe it was just she'd spent too much time abroad and gotten used to warmer weather, she didn't know, she didn't care.

She closed her eyes, letting the icy tendrils of air glide through her dark waves of hair as she gazed through the Specters she had soaring through London. It was partially evacuated now of course, Alaric mustn't have taken any chances. There were less people then there should be in the city and the ones there were cowards, hiding away in their homes like the flimsy walls could possibly protect them from _her_. Did they really not know who she was yet?

The ones out were fleeing, the muggle roads out were clogged with those filthy smoke spewing automotive vehicular transports the muggles used to get around as people tried to flee the city, others were just walking alongside them laden with bags. Aurors of all people were trying to direct them, standing by in case her Inferi reanimated and lying to the muggles that they were safe now to get past. Wizards were fleeing too of course, fireplaces were flaring and there were more pops all over as people apparated with as much as they could carry. Again some were staying put stupidly though despite Ministry officials urging Diagon Alley residents and even Knockturn Alley ones to flee, more were trying to finish evacuating the emptying St Mungo's with Portkeys.

It was a lost cause though, they were too late.

She focused her magic now it had recovered and snapped her fingers, hearing the thrum of power pulse outward to seal all kinds of magical transportation. She kept her eyes closed, watching the confusion on the people's faces as they suddenly found the Floo no longer working, apparation impossible and Portkeys ceasing function. She smiled joylessly as their expressions quickly turned to fear and panic, it was just… so _easy_ for her. So easy.

She opened her dark eyes once again. She of course being Sal, short for Salazia Riddle. The daughter of Voldemort, heir of Slytherin, descendant of Herpo the Foul, she was the Shadow Master. And she was done with her parents' homeland evading her grasp, she was done letting _anyone_ stop her, she done with mercy.

Sal used a Specter to conjure her staff to her hand, modelled after her ancestor's Scepter she'd recreated from his notes. Gray hadn't thought of _that_ when they destroyed a priceless piece of history, why would they? They underestimated her, _everyone_ underestimated her just like they always had. But she'd show them, she'd show everyone that she could succeed where her father had failed, where everyone had failed. She'd already managed to become immortal without even trying, she genuinely had no idea why or how. She supposed it didn't matter now, did anything?

She raised her free hand and the dead rose with her inciting the expected panic as they made to block those who ran like cowards, she didn't even need to look as she conjured platforms of magical energy to climb into the sky like a staircase of her creation. Instead she willed the Specters to possess any non-Gray souled witches and wizards she could, tearing their magic from their souls and hearing their screams breaking the prior silence of the twilight. She had the orbs of power fly over the city, hovering there like fireflies. It was almost pretty.

"People of London," Sal spoke, magically carrying her voice through the city she now stood over effortlessly, "It is I again, the Shadow Master. You might have remembered me from the other day, I tried to take your city then but I failed. I was betrayed…"

Sal trailed off, dark eyes drifting below to the spot Brutus had quite literally stabbed her in the back. A lump formed in her throat and she heard explosions she couldn't control, it hurt. It more than she could possibly have imagined, maybe precisely because she'd never imagined he'd betray her. She'd loved him and he betrayed her… and for what?

She didn't know where he was, if he was even alive and their child… She squeezed her eyes shut as the sound of more explosions tore the world up around her, she had no idea where Omega was either or if he was alive. They weren't in London, she knew that much.

Sal tried to blink back her tears but failed, instead letting the tears roll down her cheeks. It wasn't like anyone could see her. She turned back to the city already in flames and felt the pain twisting in her heart, she had to stay focused lest she lose control of the power coursing through her veins. Brutus had been right about one thing, it did have to end.

"But I'm back now, third time's the charm," Sal continued her speech with every effort to bury the tears in her voice and sound strong, lazily waving her hand up and carrying most of the orbs of into her Scepter's orb, "And since you all spat in the face of my offer of mercy, this time its final. No one's getting out alive. Kill them, Inferi, we're going to kill them all."

Sal flung the spare orbs down upon the city – the city Brutus had _so_ wanted spared - while the Inferi poured into the populace without restraint, overwhelming the Aurors and tearing them to shreds. Those avoiding Inferi were instead facing inescapable explosions of the raw magical energy taking out whole city blocks, vaporizing their worthless lives and lighting neighborhoods. She found herself laughing against her better judgement, a hollow, bitter empty laugh. London was burning.

* * *

The Boy Who Lived remained by his godson's bedside the next day, the recently orphaned Vale was still recovering from his father's attempt to murder him and already fallen back asleep despite the early hour. Vale wasn't broken up about Cel's death, having heard some of the things he'd done from the boy Harry could hardly blame him. He thought it was good to spend time with Vale as he already made the executive decision to take him in, it felt like the right thing to do. The three year old wasn't to blame for his father's crimes and he didn't really have anyone else, Harry was his godfather and Ginny… Ginny had basically died for the kid.

He sighed heavily and rubbed at his stinging emerald eyes behind his glasses, stinging both from tiredness and the tears he'd shed earlier. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night on the uncomfortable hospital chairs, not that he thought that was the issue anymore then he thought taking in Vale was a good excuse to whittle away his time in St Mungo's waiting with him. He was Head Auror, he was sure there was more he could be doing. Instead he just found himself reeling from yesterday's events, he wasn't even sure he trusted himself anymore.

"Mr Potter?" a voice prompted and Harry looked over at one of the Healers approaching him, "We'd like to evacuate yourself and the patient now if that's alright."

"Alright," Harry agreed resignedly, Alaric Layton – their Minister – seemed determinedly committed to evacuating London.

It wasn't that Harry _couldn't_ see the logic behind it, it was just the Shadow Master didn't have a history of attacking the same place immediately after a failed attempt. She had a history of recovering, regrouping and trying again, now more than ever she definitely needed time to restore her magic so it made even more sense she'd wait. He very much doubted as soon as her power was back she'd come kick the walls down so taking the time to have a thorough, proper and more organized evacuation seemed a more logical decision then this kind of mad rush they had now. Or maybe not, who was he to praise his judgement these days.

So Harry allowed them to move Vale, barely paying attention as they readied the Portkey and just doing as told. Not even the stomach wrenching Portkey travel fully snapped him out of it and he continued barely being aware as they started moving Vale and other patients out of the room they were using for transporting to make more space. He did return a vague to his other godson Teddy, who had become an Auror himself and was sitting with his arm in a sling at the bedside of his wife Victoire who had also become an Auror and both had been injured by Cel.

"Harry!" a familiar voice he would rather not hear called, finally forcing him back into reality as Harry turned to the Minister for Magic, "We should talk."

Alaric was looking more unkempt than usual and shadows clung beneath his navy eyes, rather like Harry himself usually looked as he constantly overworked himself in the war. This caused a painful pang in his heart, lately he'd spent more time working with the man who betrayed him then he had home with the woman who loved him. His distraction had allowed Alaric to take his arm and lead him into an empty room to give them some privacy, Alaric also looked pissed.

"What the hell, Harry?!" Alaric barked at him angrily, Harry had known this was coming, "I told you one thing – _one thing_ – about the Shadow Master's containment and that was _don't give Cel full access!_ And what did you go and do?!"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Harry explained the reasoning he sorely regretted now, "If I died the protection would crumble, it's more secure with two and we knew there was a spy who could've come at me."

"And Cel _was_ the spy! I never fully trusted him, that's why I didn't want you to either. I told you, Harry, I bloody told you!"

"Well I did, okay?!" Harry snapped defensively and unhappily, "I was _wrong_ , I put my faith in the wrong person and I'm _sorry_. And that's not even an apology to you, I just _am_ sorry, trusting him is one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made in my life and I'll regret it until the day I die but I can't change it, at the time I trusted him completely and the extra security made more sense so I ignored your order. I was in the wrong, I already know that and I already regret that. There's nothing more to say."

"There's plenty more to say!" Alaric yelled sounding understandably frustrated, "That was our one chance, Harry, the one time the most wanted and dangerous person in the world is going to be handed to us in a bow on a silver platter and you somehow managed to fuck it up!"

"My wife is dead because of _me_ , do you really think _anything_ you say is going to have more impact than that?" Harry pointed out and for the first time it seemed to give Alaric pause, "Ron is probably dead too, Hermione is maybe dead and then James is a Shadow, Albus and Lily are Gray from what I heard and Vern's dead. Give me a break, Alaric, I know how badly I've screwed up and that's not even counting every other bad thing Cel did thanks to the trust I gave him."

"If you really feel bad then-"

"Sir!" an unfamiliar voice yelled and they heard the door hammered on, "Sir, I have big news!"

"What?" Alaric asked tiredly in a tone resigned to dread as he opened the door to a frantic Auror.

"The Portkeys are no longer allowing entry to London, Floo and Apparation isn't working either!"

"Great," Alaric sighed heavily and exchanged a look with Harry, while surprised he did recognize what this meant and desperately wished he had been right, "She's attacking London again. And this time she'll probably succeed."

* * *

Brutus Ashain stirred slowly, his first thought being how strange it was his bed was now really hard and cold. It didn't even feel like a bed, it felt more like he was lying on the ground. His dark chestnut eyes snapped open and he saw his little boy nestled against him sleeping soundly, his heart twisted as the painful memories to come tumbling through his mind. The deaths, the attacks, betraying Sal... a shuddering sigh escaped him and he held the raven haired toddler close. At least Omega was okay but what of his twin? And what of Vathan? Where were they and were they even alive? Where was _he_ for that matter, that was probably a good place to start.

Brutus sat up slowly, very careful to keep Omega cradled comfortably in his arms to not disturb the poor child. He cast his eyes around and saw somewhat ironically that they seemed to be in a basement of some kind, just a vast empty space with a cold concrete floor. He had been healed though, he noticed, whatever Healer had done a good job.

"You're awake," a familiar voice commented before Brutus had finished scanning the room, his eyes snapped to the source.

Varanian. Least Brutus thought it was him sitting on some rickety wooden steps, he had to do a double take despite being quite familiar with the metamorphmagus. He didn't even look _that_ different, he was tall and thin just like his natural appearance was, Caucasian with dark shadows beneath his eyes. He had his horrific burn scars on full display which encompassed his hands, wrist, neck and sides of his cheeks while his hair was scruffy as it always had been but the tawny color was fighting a losing war with iron gray. What really stood out were his eyes, one was an icy blue and one was silvery gray. Brutus had never seen him with two different eye colors before, it was strangely unnerving and made him look somewhat demented. Or maybe that was because Varanian had been fiercely determined to kill him the last time he'd been conscious, Varanian _was_ holding his wand.

"Where am I?" Brutus wondered quietly, feeling too drained to fight.

"Somewhere," Varanian answered vaguely, staring at him unblinking and thumbing his wand. Brutus held Omega a little closer.

"What are you planning on doing to us?" Brutus asked equally quietly.

"A part of me thinks you could be useful which is why I'm holding you prisoner… but another part of me just wants to kill you."

"And my son?" Brutus pressed and Varanian's disturbing eyes drifted to Omega for the first time, his expression darkening briefly from the blank one he'd kept the entire conversion but he merely shrugged, "What about the other kids?"

"Oathan's being treated. Don't know about the others," Varanian informed him, glancing back to him and Brutus forced himself to nod as he swallowed the fear in his throat. Varanian not knowing meant the others _could_ still be alive, they could, "Your girlfriend destroyed London, did you know that?"

"No," Brutus admitted and averted his eyes unhappily.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Why would I be?" Brutus scoffed, bitterly leaning back against the wall and glancing back to Varanian, "She's going to be upset, anyone would be. Sal just has a lot more power than anyone."

"So you betrayed her knowing she'd be mad and would destroy a city?"

"No, I betrayed her thinking how could Harry Potter possibly fuck up being handed the most dangerous woman in the world after I stripped her power," Brutus snapped back testily and a little too loudly as Omega started to awaken, Brutus sighed heavily and unhappily, "I _tried_ to do the right thing, what more do you want from me?"

"Dada?" Omega whimpered frightfully as his dark eyes darted around in fear, "Where is Laz?"

"It's okay," Brutus lied gently, cuddling Omega to comfort him and stroking his hair gently, "I'm here, you're okay."

"I don't like," Omega moaned and they both jolted at the slam of a door, Brutus looked back up and saw Varanian had left which was presumably what the door had been. It still scared Omega though as the small child started to cry, "Where is Laz? Where is Mama? Where is Vathan?"

"I don't know," Brutus was painfully forced to admit as Omega broke further into tears, pulling him close to him once again, "But I'm here, long as I'm here you'll be okay."

"I w- want go home, Dada," Omega sobbed into his chest, "I want go home, I want all my families."

"I know, Om," Brutus whispered sadly, kissing his son's head lovingly, "We all want that."

* * *

Wyatt Grant lay on the ground screaming uncontrollably as the pain of the Cruciatus Curse tore through his veins, his body writhed instinctively against it although he was barely aware he even had a body at this point. All he knew was pain… And then just like that it stopped, or rather he felt the force of the curse leave. The residual waves of pain continued to pelt him like an outgoing tide but it was weakening and the tension left his body, he crumpled onto the cold stone floor still shaking.

"You ready to talk yet?" his torturer's voice barked and Wyatt immediately felt himself hauled up roughly, thrown down into a chair.

Wyatt shook his head vigorously, instinctively. He didn't want to betray Gray, it was the last thing they needed right now. For once acting without thinking seemed to be doing him good, it was harder to say no if he let himself stop to think how surrender would stop the pain. He had no idea how long he could last, Leebin and Molly had both held out for months but he wasn't as strong as they were, nor was he as skilled at Occlumency.

He was torn from his thoughts as he felt a fist colliding with his face, throwing his already bruised body back onto the painfully hard ground. He tasted blood in his mouth and tried to spit it out before he was hauled roughly back up again, thrown back into the chair. A hand then grabbed his face and he tried not yelp in fear while he was yelping in fear which made a strange strangled sound as he was forced to look into the cold brown eyes of his torturer, James Sirius Potter.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," James growled threateningly, digging his nails in necessarily and Wyatt coldly kept the gaze. That was another thing he thought was useful, he loathed James. He truly hated him, he hated him more than he feared him. What _wasn't_ there to hate about a cruel sadistic bully and murderer who'd betrayed his family and everything good in the world? Plus James was gay and being gay himself, Wyatt felt weirdly insulted, "It's only polite."

"And torture's polite?" Wyatt wondered bitterly, prompting James to strike him again although not forcefully enough to knock him over this time just away.

Wyatt let his gaze stay away and his body continued to shake from the waning pain, at least in the wake of this Cruciatus Curse the blows or bonds digging into his wrists didn't feel so bad. This time James grabbed his hair, painfully tugging it to make him look again at the freckled face that otherwise bore a strong resemblance to his brother. Except James' dark hair was shorter making it look tamer then his younger siblings, he was also fitter then Albus but shorter too.

"I have to stop torturing you with the Cruciatus Curse now, wouldn't want to risk your sanity," James informed him casually and a part of him actually felt saddened by that, after all _logically_ if he went mad he couldn't betray Gray and if he was mad would he even know if he was in pain anymore? Not that he really _wanted_ to lose his sanity but… well it wasn't like his life really mattered. A sadistic smile crept onto James' face, "But that's okay because _this_ is where the fun begins, that or I could have a go at your buddies."

"They're not Gray, they don't know anything," Wyatt insisted truthfully and not for the first time, James leaned back smugly.

"That's exactly what a Gray member protecting his comrades would say."

"Or just a decent human being who doesn't want or see in the point in innocent civilians suffering."

"They're hardly innocent," James laughed, "That Byron is a real piece of work and Koray wanted me expelled."

"You attacked his son," Wyatt pointed out incredulously, James was also kind of delusional he was noticing.

"His son started it," James scoffed irritably as he folded his arms, "And if you want to protect them so badly you could just always spare them the pain of torture by telling me what you know."

Wyatt felt a surge of guilt, he wasn't entirely sure it would make James spare them but he could still probably save them. This was his fight not theirs and he was never sure which was worse, hearing his dad – regardless the issues they had – tortured, the kid or the children begging for James to stop hurting their dad. But he couldn't, sparing them meant damning Gray. James had said they'd already destroyed the main base, he didn't know how bad it was but he did know whatever was left was unlikely to recover from a second attack while hurt and scattered. There were kids in Gray too, non-combatants and people he considered friends. He couldn't damn them to possibly save five people, they were the only chance of ending the war too so it would be damning everyone. Wyatt averted his eyes and shook his head, earning another punch from James.

"What did I tell you about looking at me?!" James snapped and forced Wyatt's head to look at him again, James' cruel smirk had returned, "And see? If you really cared about protecting the innocent then you'd protect them, Gray is just as selfish and terrible as people claim we Soul Eaters are."

"Oh, fuck you," Wyatt spat which knocked the smile of James' face, it also caused him to draw his wand while digging his nails roughly in again.

"Language," James criticized calmly and that sadistic smile again rematerialized as he held his wand up, "You know, Wyatt, at first I was bothered when Marigold told me I couldn't make you bleed until you recovered enough to stop needing Blood-Replenishing potion lest you die. But it's been kind of fun finding ways to hurt you that don't need to make you bleed, plus something else he said struck me as curious. He said that your wounded eye could still be salvaged so long as he could treat it but, I wonder…"

Wyatt jumped – or tried to, James' nails held him firmly in place – in surprise as the tip of James' wand lit up suddenly. And not like a Wand-lighting Charm, like a molten fiery light. Wyatt could feel the heat of it already.

"Do you think he could salvage it if I gouge it out?" James asked casually and Wyatt hoped very much it didn't show on his face that his heart leaped fearfully, he couldn't take his eyes off the wand, "If I use burning it won't even make you bleed, it'll cauterize any damage and burns don't make you bleed. They just hurt, like a lot. So what do you think, Wyatt? Feel like talking or feel like having your eye gouged out in burning pain?"

Wyatt said nothing, not trusting himself to speak lest he accidently blurt out and beg pathetically for his eye. He might hate James more than he feared him but he certainly feared that. James' sadistic smirk crawled back onto his face, he was going to enjoy this.

"I guess the eye it is then," James said aloud and moved his wand closer, Wyatt felt the heat intensifying and tried to move his head away but James' grip held him firm, "Uh-uh, no weaseling out of the bed you made…"

"Master!" a voice called and Wyatt didn't think he'd been more relieved to hear anyone say anything in his life.

James was forced to angrily let him go and turn his attention to the speaker as the door opened, revealing an olive-skinned teenager with a mop of course dark curls. The boy was dressed plainly and looked almost unhealthily underweight but most notably, he had a brand on his cheek that Wyatt knew the Shadows used to mark slaves.

"What have I told you, Yannis?!" James yelled at the boy who was taller than him despite seeming little younger, storming over and striking him violently. And again, punctuating every syllable with another blow, "Do. Not. Int-err-upt. _Me_."

"I'm sorry, Master," Yannis – assuming James had the name right – whimpered as James flung him onto the ground, holding his hands up protectively and preemptively from further attack which James did go to do, "Stephan told me to get you right away though! I was just following his orders!"

"Well why didn't you say that sooner!" James angrily yelled, pulling Yannis back up and slamming the fearful youth into the wall.

"I'm sorry, Master," Yannis apologized again and looked like he was bracing himself for further attack, for a second Wyatt thought he would receive it but James seemed to reign in his temper.

"Well I best see what Stephan wants, I'll deal with your punishment later," James said instead and headed out, Yannis leaned back against the wall and looked after James with an unmistakable look of loathing. It quickly reverted back to fear as James stormed back an instant later but Wyatt still caught it, the slave hated his master, "Come on, Yannis! I didn't tell you to stand there like an idiot and Wyatt, enjoy your last few minutes with that eye."

Yannis cast him a look of sympathy briefly before following James out, James slamming the door behind them and leaving Wyatt in complete darkness as the torchlight died when James left. Wyatt took a deep breath, he had been left on his own before but he was still recovering from Lysander crushing him and as a result had felt so weak he'd just slept or collapsed. But not this time.

Wyatt leaped to his still get, finding himself a little unsteady but it would do. It had to. He needed to get away, he needed to get away right now. He stumbled forwards until he reached the door and tumbled blindly about for any opening large enough to fit through as a lizard, that was all he needed to escape, just a small crack. Anything! But he wasn't finding anything, the door was pretty secure and there were no bars. No gap beneath it, or above or on the sides.

"No, no, please, come on," Wyatt begged desperately of the nothing, "Please."

He moved instead to the walls, running his bound over the stones in search of a sliver of space he could crawl into. It was all he needed, it really wasn't a lot. But he wasn't, he wasn't finding anything. Or on the other wall or the door's wall, not even the final wall. Not up, not down, not center. There was nothing, no way a lizard could crawl out of the room.

"No," Wyatt moaned, slumping to the ground as his trembling legs half-buckled beneath him. He couldn't get away, he buried his face in his hands. He didn't know what else to do, he wasn't strong enough or smart enough to find a way out of this like any of the others probably could've. There was no escape for him.

"Sorry about that," James' voice commented and Wyatt jumped fearfully at the door was opened again, looking up as James closed it behind him. The torchlight sprang back, casing a crimson glow on James as he held up his wand and the tip glowed red again, "So where were we?"


	2. IIX: Hunting

_**Thanks to:** Cal and Colin Creevey for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Is it completely impossible that James turns around and joins Harry? Or is he far gone? Or is this a spoiler? Or what?_**  
 _Eh they're two different things, Sal does intend to kill James eventually so is it impossible he turns and joins Harry? No. But is suddenly going to switch sides out of the goodness of his heart? No. As you see in James' Extra, he is delusional and his mind will always warp the truth to make him feel in the right and he'll always be a sadist no matter what side he's on. He is just barely still a Gray soul though and Harry is that final thread so who knows?_

 ** _Did they already get Vale out or are they all basically in trouble?_**  
 _Yes, they already got Vale out. The whole Alaric/Harry conversation was after they Portkeyed from St Mungo's_

* * *

Hogsmeade was in chaos, the quaint cobbled stones were now charred and the stench of decaying corpses filled the clean air. Bodies _were_ everywhere, the living were being forced outside and the dead were the ones forcing them. Thankfully some living human people had finally showed up so they were no longer purely at the mercy of the brain-dead Inferi, the figures emblazoned with the twisting Shadow Mark symbol were now directing them as they seemed to be ordering the terrified populace.

Mostly terrified anyway, Sly Atoll certainly wasn't afraid and was happier then he'd been in years. Just as he'd predicted- just as he'd _wanted,_ the Shadows were finally taking power and tearing down the foundations of the worthless old way. It sucked so many people had died but most of it was their own fault, the instructions to survive had seemed pretty clear and fair to him so refusing to comply and resisting was nothing short of suicidal. People were just stupid, sheer dumb luck was the only reason the human race had survived at all.

Sly allowed himself to be led with the others, making an effort to stay away from his foster family however because screw those guys. And fuck Terry. He had secretly – or rather not so secretly - hoped Terry would die in the attack but alas, he survived to pollute the world further with his existence. Unless one of these Inferi went rogue and tore him apart right now, Sly would very much welcome that happening. Or maybe he wouldn't even need to watch Terry die if he got to become a Soul Eater himself, he wouldn't be weak anymore then and he could defend himself. He wanted to be a Soul Eater so badly.

"Girls go _that_ way," a voice close by barked loudly enough to draw Sly from his thoughts.

He saw it was one of the Soul Eaters directing people, yelling at two of his foster siblings – a brother and sister – who must have wanted to stay together. They were forced to go two different directions though, the little girl in tears like the pathetic weakling she was. It gave him a bitter satisfaction to see the pair split up, after all it wasn't like he got to stay with _his_ sister. Whit was dead, she'd gone all soft and died to the stupid potion they had every day that their stupid druggie mother just _had_ to give her. So now Whit was dead, his parents were in prison and he was left all alone.

"That way," the man directed him when Sly got close enough, he seemed to just be dividing them by gender.

"Is that the way to become a Soul Eater?" Sly questioned, standing his ground and folding his arms, "Because that's the way I want to go."

"Sly, just do what they want," his foster father hissed at him while the Soul Eater raised an eyebrow, "This isn't the time for you to be difficult."

"I don't want to be lost in the crowd, I want to be a Soul Eater."

"Is that so?" a new voice wondered and Sly spun to see a young man standing there, tall and lanky with dark greasy hair and coal colored eyes. He was dressed surprisingly casually but he stood with an air of power, the other Soul Eater seemed to immediately defer to him indicating he was _someone_.

"Yes," Sly confirmed firmly, holding his head up high as the man approached studying him curiously.

"Do you want me to make him move along, General?" the other Soul Eater asked.

"Actually its _Lieutenant_ now," the newcomer corrected testily and the other man looked a little afraid.

"Yes, of course. My mistake."

"And no, I'll speak with him. Carry on," the Lieutenant decided and led Sly away, his foster father looking after him worriedly, "Do you have a name?"

"Do you?" Sly shot back instinctively and mentally kicked himself, he should be more civil to the people he wanted to join, "I mean, yes, Sly Atoll."

"Stephan Hunter," the Lieutenant introduced himself as they meandered through the town, his eyes skimming the crowds like he was looking for someone, "I'm guessing from your demeanor you've been on Vanharisk?"

"Yes, my parents gave it me."

"We don't use it, it's not worth it for the side effects."

"I'm better than most children," Sly insisted defensively and truthfully, kids were even dumber than adults and they tried his patience to no end.

"Doesn't matter who's better when you collapse from a seizure," Stephan pointed out dismissively, still more focused on looking around. He was definitely looking for someone, or something Sly supposed.

"The seizures get less frequent in time, I'm still capable of being a good Soul Eater. I swear! I may have weaknesses but knowing what they are I can work around them, I have strengths too and I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"Well, we'll see," Stephan said with a smirk before finally seeming to find who he was looking for, "And there we are."

"No! Don't take my brother away!" a pale girl around Sly's age was crying desperately at another Soul Eater, she was trying to cling to possibly the ugliest toddler Sly had ever seen in his life – and his face was not helped by being all blotchy and snotty from crying – who shared if nothing else the same dark hair as her.

"I said get!" the Soul Eater growled, bringing his wand down on the girl and sent her spiraling to the ground where the man stomped down on her face so forcefully Sly flinched. That must hurt, "You do what _we_ say now, girl!"

"That's enough, get back to work," Stephan called out lazily as the other man brought his boot up to stomp back down on her now bloody face again, "I'll deal with these two."

The subordinate backed off instantly as Stephan approached, returning to dividing the other throng and ignoring the kids. Stephan stopped beside the girl and offered her a hand up, she took it shakily and the Lieutenant helped her to her feet. She looked more like her ugly brother now, blood streamed from her nose and dribbled from her mouth, the half of her face with a boot print on it was now misshapen. Sly expected Stephen to heal her but he didn't.

"St- Stephan?" the girl wondered as she looked up at him, coping oddly well with her damaged face like it wasn't the first time she'd been injured so, "Carver's brother?"

"I'm glad you remember me," Stephan told her, glancing briefly at the toddler who didn't look like he shared the recognition, "Emerald, I believe? And Damien."

"Yeah," the girl – Emerald, Sly supposed – confirmed and spat out a mouthful of blood as she eyed Stephan warily, "What do you want?"

"To help," Stephan answered in a tone that suggested that wasn't the whole truth, "The siblings of my dead brother are people I should probably take an interest in, I'm sure he'd want to know you're cared for and we did just destroy your home."

"Will we get to stay together?"

"If you do what I want," Stephan shrugged, his eyes drifting back to Sly for the first time, "Should you and Sly here pass my test then I'll allow all of you to go to the Training Tower, you'll become Elite Soul Eaters like your brother before you."

"What if we don't want to?" Emerald shot out immediately and Sly threw her a murderous look, if she screwed up this chance for him…

"Then say goodbye to your brother because I'll make damned sure it's the very last time you see him or the rest of your family," Stephan told her coldly and Sly relaxed, he knew she'd agree to that even though she sighed unhappily.

"Fine."

"Then let's go," Stephen decided.

In the next instant Sly felt himself engulfed by darkness and cold, he felt like he'd been flung off a cliff naked and left his stomach behind. He hit the ground on his knees gasping for breath while his stomach lurched, needing a second to realize he was breathing in clean air and staring down at grass. He heard retching and looked up, seeing the toddler – Damien? – throwing up nearby although while looking queasy, Emerald seemed okay and was still on her feet.

This prompted Sly to make an effort to swallow his own bile to show more composure, not wanting to be shown up. He shakily pushed himself back to his feet, Stephan alone looked completely unaffected. Emerald helped Damien back up, rubbing his back soothingly much like Whit would when he was ill… Sly shook that thought angrily from his head and folded his arms irritably, stupid brats. He hoped they'd never see each other again.

"Alright, come on," Stephan urged striding forwards.

Sly glanced around as he hastened to follow, seeing they were approaching some house on the edge of some muggle town if the street lights and nearby road were anything to go by. It seemed a weird place for a test, or was he getting more kids? Sly glanced at the others were still with them, in fact seeing them from closer he thought they looked oddly familiar but he was sure he didn't know them. He was good with faces, his father had always impressed upon them that it was a good skill to have. His father was a _great_ man, the Soul Eaters were foolish if they let him rot in prison for life when he could be useful, he hadn't even _done_ anything.

"Oh, hey Stephan," a woman's voice spoke and Sly was snapped back from his thoughts, seeing Stephan must have knocked or rang as a pretty dark-skinned woman had answered the door. She looked upset though, "Did you hear about Hogwarts? I don't know if Andreas is-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as Stephen whipped his wand out in a heartbeat, there was a blast of light and the woman was flung back within the house. Damien screamed in shock but Stephen merely gestured for them to follow as he went into the house, Emerald had looked away grimly.

"That'll hurt," Emerald muttered.

"You know what spell he used?" Sly wondered in surprise, it was rare for kids their age to know anything about spell.

"It crushes you, breaks your bones," Emerald answered quietly as they went into the house after Stephan, "Dad used it a couple of times when he was angry."

"That why you're not bothered your face got stomped on? Already used to Daddy playing too rough?" Sly guessed the correlation and she shrugged unhappily, she did open her mouth to reply but they were all distracted by the door slamming shut behind them.

Sly looked away in surprise to see they were in a hallway, Stephan was standing before them with one arm lazily outstretched to the door while his wand was in the other hand levitating the woman. Her body looked mangled now, limbs were twisted like they were broken from her fingers to even her spine. Her face was frozen in a look of horror as Stephen calmly levitated her through the door to the right, a child's shriek of terror was heard.

They followed Stephan into the room which turned out to be a living room and sure enough, there was a little girl in there who only looked around Damien's age. Stephen flung the woman's body into a corner and hit the toddler with a stunner, a man rushed into the room from the other side and Stephen hit him with a spell that bound his limbs.

"Andreas is dead, Josslyn," Stephan said to the woman coldly, tears filled her eyes, "He betrayed us so he died. That's why I'm here, Soul Eaters don't take treachery lightly. Should you choose to turn on us, you're also choosing to forfeit the lives of those you care about-" Sly couldn't help but notice the way Stephan glanced at him and Emerald as he said this, he was warning them "-so now your family has to die."

"No!" the man cried out desperately, "Please! Andreas wasn't our family, we barely saw him, we barely know him- I didn't even _like_ the kid! We shouldn't die for him, we shouldn't die for this!"

"Huh, I guess Andreas wasn't lying when he complained his stepdad hated him," Stephan mused thoughtfully and flicked his wrist, causing the man's lips to seal shut, "Jeffrey, you're a jerk."

"Steph-" the woman – Josslyn, Sly supposed – started to say but it was cut off as she started screaming.

Her body convulsing violently, even worse than Sly's seizures and after a minute a strange glowing orb was wrenched from her mangled body. For a second Sly thought she was dead but she was simply staring unblinkingly at the light, silent tears starting to stream from her eyes. Damien started crying, clinging to Emerald and burying his face in her arm. Sly looked grimly on, if his test was to watch this then fine. He didn't enjoy it but he could endure it, he knew the Soul Eaters could be extreme sometimes.

"Alright then," Stephan said cheerfully, turning back to them and spinning his wrist which conjured a knife, "You're up, Sly."

"What?" Sly wondered in confusion and Stephan tossed him the knife, Sly fumbled to catch it anxiously lest it hurt him and thankfully succeeded.

"This is your test," Stephen explained and gestured to the man who was presumably called Jeffrey, "Kill this asshole, put the knife in his neck. You said you'd do anything so do it, prove yourself and you can become a Soul Eater."

"Can't- Can't I kill someone else?" Sly stammered out in shock, his instinct being to not do this and if he had to kill he'd rather kill Terry because at least he knew for sure Terry deserved it, "I could kill my foster broth-"

"No, it _has_ to be him," Stephen cut him darkly, coal-colored eyes focused on him menacingly, "If you want to be a Soul Eater you can't pick and choose who you kill, you have to follow orders and I'm ordering you to kill this man."

Sly swallowed nervously and nodded in understanding, he glanced at Emerald to see her reaction but she wasn't looking at him. He then started to approach his target, his legs were trembling beneath him and the knife in his hand was feeling heavier with each step. Jeffrey's eyes were bulging in terror, he struggled uselessly against the bonds and from the muffled sounds he was trying to speak. Or scream.

Sly reached him and glanced back to Stephan as if he'd suddenly change his mind, the man was watching him with focused eyes. He had to do it. Sly crouched by the man, Jeffrey's eyes filled with tears of fear now. He was the only thing standing between Sly as his future, a better future then this shithole could give. His chance to be strong so no one could hurt, his chance to see his parents again. What was one person's life for that? He didn't even like people and he could potentially have to do worse if he got his wish, there was always a catch.

Sly opened his mouth to tell the man he was sorry but closed it, an apology wasn't going to mean or change anything. He took the knife and slid it through Jeffrey's throat, the blade slicing easily through the soft flesh. Crimson poured from the wound, streaming out like a red waterfall. Sly didn't want to watch but he didn't want to look away, he looked the man in the eye and watched the light leave it. He was a murderer now. Sly swallowed and got to his feet, his legs trembling even more as he left the corpse to walk back to Stephan.

"Well done, you passed your test. You're going to be a Soul Eater now," Stephan congratulated him and took back the knife, Sly just nodded. It was done, that was the important thing, "Emerald, you're up. Kill the child."

"No!" Josslyn cried, seeming to snap out of whatever she was going through at the threat to her – presumably – daughter, "Stephan, pleas-"

Stephen flicked his wrist and Josslyn gave a last scream as her tongue was torn from her mouth, her head lolled as she choked on her own blood but her torturer didn't so much as glance at her. His eyes didn't leave Emerald as he held out the knife to her, a tear rolled down her cheek and she shook her head.

"You heard what I said about treachery," Stephen reminded her and held the knife out to her, "Not doing what I want is treachery, Emerald."

Emerald choked on a sob and more tears rolled down her face, she shakily reached out and took the knife though. She pried Damien off her and slowly walked over to the unconscious girl, Stephen flicked his wrist as she crouched by the toddler. The toddler instantly woke up in panic, screaming as she saw Jeffrey's body and her barely alive mother.

"Calm down," Emerald urged gently as the little girl broke down, reaching out to comfort her which actually seemed to work a little, "It's going to be okay."

"M- My p- parents…" the toddler sobbed fearfully.

"Then close your eyes, don't look and it'll be okay," Emerald told her and the girl obediently squeezed her eyes shut, Emerald raised the knife now that the toddler wasn't looking. The blade trembled in her hand as more tears streamed down her face, finally she lowered it and looked back to them, "I can't do it, Stephan."

" _Really?_ " Stephan wondered with a smirk and Damien shrieked as Stephan grabbed him, jabbing his wand into Damien's throat threateningly.

"It's okay," Emerald whispered tearfully as she turned back to the toddler, her grip on the blade steadying as she slit the child's throat in one swift motion. Sly averted his eyes, "You'll be with your family now, you'll be alright now."

"I thought so," Stephan commented as he let Damien go, looking pleased as he pocketed his wand, "Well done on passing your test."

"You're a _monster_ ," Emerald told him as she walked back over.

"Takes one to know one," Stephen stated dismissively.

He held out his hand to take back the knife, there was a spark of defiance in her eyes though and abruptly she lunged with the knife to try to stab Stephan's hand. There was a glow of light from his palm as the blade touched it, almost in slow motion Sly watched as the knife seemed to disintegrate in the light instead of going into Stephan. The light faded when there was no knife left and Stephan punched Emerald cleanly in the jaw, sending her spiraling down to the ground. He actually didn't look too upset though.

"Don't try to stab me with a knife I conjured, _honestly_ ," Stephan stated as if it was obvious, rolling his eyes. He folded his arms and smirked as Emerald picked herself back up dejectedly, "You have guts though, I like that. You just need to remember what side you're on-"

Stephan stopped mid-sentence as a baby crying broke the otherwise silent atmosphere, they all looked up as the sound was coming from above. These people would have to have a baby. Their gazes drifted back down, Emerald looking horrified.

"Hmm," Stephan mused thoughtfully, "Am I feeling merciful today?"

* * *

Stephan was feeling quite pleased with himself as he finished dropping the kids off at the Training Tower, he liked to recruit Elites. The Shadow Master did intend the Training Tower fall out of use eventually, once they had the world and everything settled down it wouldn't be so necessary – although since Brutus was the one so keen on kid safety he was hoping her mind would change – to have Elite soldiers. Stephan was opposed to this so in the meantime he tried to boost the numbers as much as possible so at least there'd be more of them, he wasn't allowed to mass initiate people but he could add a few promising kids here and there, those related to Soul Eaters were also fair game.

Aside from that, he'd conquered Canada, Hogwarts was toast, the Shadow Master continued being fantastically immortal and he had _finally_ been promoted to Lieutenant. It was about time, he lived to serve and he could that best with more power. He'd be a better Lieutenant then the others, he'd been raised for this whole life after all. He was to be meeting her soon and had things to do but while he was he in the Training Tower, he thought he should check on his brother Ethan quickly.

Stephan reached Ethan's door and knocked while unlocking the door magically, keeping him locked up in the magically protected room was necessary for Ethan's own safety due to his suicidal tendencies. He didn't expect or care about getting an answer and went into the small room – if he Ethan wanted a bigger room he knew what he had to do to get one – which had a bed, a dresser for clothes, a window and a crib on the far end for their youngest brother Decimus since Stephan had hoped being responsible for the infant might help Ethan. He was a good brother, no matter how ungrateful they acted. The baby was sleeping now and Ethan was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

"Ethan," Stephan barked irritably as he went over to his brother feeling frustrated, he didn't understand _why_ he was like this or _how_ to snap him out of, "I take it Davin or Rocio told you about Andreas already."

"Yes," Ethan answered quietly without looking at him, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"He's a _traitor_ , just forget about him," Stephan insisted, he didn't get why that was so hard, "Traitors aren't worth getting upset over."

"He was our _brother_ ," Ethan whimpered, starting to sob and Stephan rolled his eyes at the redhead, "And now he's dead, that's all that matters."

"Ethan, you have _got_ to pull yourself together," Stephan told him as he crouched by his now weeping brother, "You can't break down just because a traitor dies, you can't be like this. If you were anyone else we'd have killed you already."

"Then let me die, all I want is to die."

"You're not dying!" Stephan snapped at him, he hated this, "Stop wanting to die, there's no reason to die. You can have anything else- _anything_ you want! A puppy, a broom, a mansion, money, to get laid, a city in your name or… whatever else people want! You can have anything since we own the world, I can make it happen but you just have to _stop_ being like this."

Ethan just shook his head.

"Well have fun stuck in this room then," Stephan announced as he stood, not having time for this now. He didn't know why he even bothered.

Stephan left the room, resealed it magically before using a Specter to return him to Hogwarts the once famed school of witchcraft and wizardry. It was empty now though, Sal certainly didn't want it to be used as a school which was why the kids and Hogsmeade residents would be moved to Canada for the time being. The staff had almost unanimously been involved in the escape effort so there hadn't been many adults to deal with but the non-exceptions had been hauled off with the kids, because of course there exceptions.

The potential Gray members were being held in the Dungeons which included a few staff, a few students and a witness on their hit list, they'd be tortured to death for information. There was a werewolf too hurt to be moved in the Hospital Wing and the Healer, they were letting him stay until the next full moon where he'd either die or be moved to join their werewolf army if the Healer could save him and the Healer was also useful for keeping the tortured alive for that too, he'd be moved to Canada after that. Finally there was the Headmaster, Sal had wished to speak to him so he was being kept in the Main Hall. Everyone else was their people, there were some slaves, a handful of soldiers, James and then a hoard of Inferi outside.

Stephan hoped this wouldn't take long as he leaned against the door outside the main hall, he hated being in buildings – especially large ones such as this – that he didn't know the layout of. He hadn't been to Hogwarts after all so he wasn't familiar with it, James had though which was why he'd put him here. He jolted abruptly to attention as the Shadow Master stepped out of the Shadows, staff she'd created in hand. It was long and looked rather like she'd just found a branch of random white tree, the top held a blue crystal which was encased in a cocoon of crisscrossing tendrils of the same organic looking white wood.

"How was London?" Stephan asked pleasantly as she strode forwards, raising the staff and the doors opened to the hall.

"No more," Sal answered coolly.

Stephan inclined his head in understanding as he followed her inside, smiling at the thought of her razing the city. The Headmaster leaped immediately to his feet in panic, an entitled looking pompous ass if ever he'd seen one. Andreas and Martha had neither liking nor respect for the man and while they were traitors, Stephan was inclined to believe them on this. The man had surrendered from pure cowardice not out of genuine belief in them – which was foolish in itself - being right, Stephan had no respect for people like that.

"Greetings!" Weedy Larry – that's what his siblings had called the man anyway – squeaked, trying not to look absolutely terrified and failing spectacularly as he stumbled towards them from behind the far table Stephan had been told staff used, "How can- can I be of service to you fine people today?"

"I want the password to the Headmaster's office for future reference," Sal demanded readily.

"Oh, it um… it's just Laurence Winthrop," the man answered nervously, twiddling his thumbs uneasily and Sal raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that your name?"

"Y- Yes, yes it is," Weedy Larry confirmed, fidgeting like a weasel but for some reason Stephan thought he was being honest, "What's wrong with using your name as the password?"

Stephan delved into his mind, causing the man to scream in pain as he quickly confirmed Weedy Larry was indeed being truthful and skimmed some memories of him actually using said password to back it up. The idiot was just arrogant and terrified of them.

"He's telling the truth," Stephan confirmed as he left his mind, leaving Weedy Larry to crumple on the floor clutching his head.

"Good," Sal muttered.

"Was that really necessary?!" Weedy Larry shrieked, upset at having a little headache, "I've been cooperating! I've been good!"

"Doesn't matter," Sal shrugged and flicked her wrist, setting the man ablaze, "You're Headmaster and your predecessor was a bastard who wouldn't let me or Tommy go to Hogwarts so… you have to pay for that, password was all I needed."

On that note, Sal turned on her heel and left the Headmaster burning to a painful death. Stephan followed after her, not seeing a reason to stay and the dying screams filled the air behind them. Neither of them was fazed.

"Will Hogsmeade be cleared out soon?" Sal questioned as they walked briskly.

"Yes," Stephan confirmed, "I was going to check on it when we're done here, they should have them moved out today. And Hogwarts already has been."

"Good. When they're gone have the people you were using for that start a search effort for Omega, when things are more organized it'll become a more coordinated one but for now I think it's important to just get people out there."

"Understood."

"Has James got anything from the prisoners yet?"

"I'll check but I don't think so, it hasn't been long and he'd have probably contacted me already if he had."

"Understood. Give him the rest of the summer, that should be plenty of time then we'll just have to move the prisoners if they're still alive and necessary. I want this place empty by September, I want to use it."

"For what?" Stephan wondered curiously and they came to a halt.

"It'll become my brother's tomb," Sal answered readily, her expression saddening a little and Stephan nodded in understanding, "I need to check on my son but I'll be back, deal with these crappy details so I don't have to. We still have more hell to raise."


	3. IIX: The Lost

_**Thanks to:** Cal, Joy, Colin Creevey and TheGreatAthlon5 for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Why an entire castle? An entire castle as a tomb?_**  
 _She thinks her brother deserves a whole castle for a tomb and seeing as how their ancestor was one of the founders she finds it appropriate. Sal has a love/hate relationship with Hogwarts due to not being able to go, she doesn't want it to be used since she didn't get to but because of its history she still wants to have it so a tomb is kind of the perfect function for it_

 ** _How many books do you intend this to be anyways?_**  
 _Eight main series books so this is the last one_

 ** _What's his (Sly's)... deal?_**  
 _He grew up in Knockturn Alley to criminal parents who gave him the same potion as Oathan to make his brain develop faster but its highly illegal due to the severe side effects and risk of death, his older sister did die from it which led to his parents' arrest and placement in foster care where he's abused by his foster brother. He's loyal to his father so he believes he was taken from him unfairly and his life ruin for no reason, he wholly blames the ministry and views them as bad because of this so the Shadows are the good guys to him since they're defeating the ministry and changing the rules, he doesn't think things could get any worse so they're still the better option to him. He also likes they train child soldiers, both because he wants to be strong enough to defend himself and because he's frustrated being treated as a child when his mind is more mature because of the potion. He also hopes part of the change involves recognizing his father's false imprisonment and freeing him so he can be with his dad again_

 ** _Does Ethan have any significance?_**  
 _A minor one_

* * *

Antonius Ashain sat on a bench at some small time train station, alone but for his massive mongrel dog Hope by his side who he was stroking gently. Apart from that it was deserted, even whoever was supposed to be selling tickets was absent. That wasn't particularly surprising though, they were getting closer to London which had been attacked earlier and there were reportedly no survivors so people were scared and fleeing. It sucked, aside from the obvious it would now take them even _longer_ to get back to Plymouth now since going through London had been their most direct route. They being him and sister, Cassia had gone to look for… the train schedule or something like that.

They'd been walking forever it felt like, all night and now most of this day. He felt exhausted and they still had a way to go, he didn't know what they were going to do for sleep. He didn't know what they were going to do just in general or what was going to happen to them or the world, he didn't know anymore. He sighed and moved his hand away from Hope, shoving them into his pockets instead and shivering. He was cold, even with the sun beating down overhead he felt so cold. He also felt something in his pocket strangely, not knowing what he would have there for a second before pain shot through him as a voice echoed from the recesses of his mind.

 _"But first: Happy Birthday!"_

"But it wasn't my birthday," Antonius muttered, feeling tears prick his eyes.

 _"I **know** it's not your birthday. But you had to go and be born in July, it's after the Hogwarts year ends so I won't get to see you…"_

He wouldn't get to see him ever now. Antonius shakily withdrew the gift, feeling a lump in his throat as he tried to swallow back his tears. It was the same hexagonal box that Andreas had given him a few days ago, wrapped in crimson paper and tied with an elegant purple bow. It felt like so much more time had passed since then, he had no idea what it could be.

 _"No opening it until your actual birthday, if not it defeats the whole point of it being a **birthday** present."_

Antonius shoved it back into his pocket, fighting the urge to break down again. He had to stay strong, if he didn't stay strong there was no way Gray would ever accept him and no way he'd ever be able to fight the Shadows. He had to, he had to fight them so he couldn't be weak, he couldn't think about who he'd lost. He tried to compose himself and looked around for something to distract him, there was nothing really except for the platform. He remembered the last time he'd been on a platform.

 _"I've known this day would come since you were born. Yet I still can't believe that same baby boy is old enough to be going to Hogwarts for the very first time."_

That got him. Antonius buried his face in his hands, choking on a sob at the memory of his father's voice. He wished his dad was there now, he wished he was anywhere else if it meant he was still alive really. His dad would hug him and he wouldn't feel cold anymore, he'd tell him everything would be okay. His dad would know what to do. But he was gone now, he'd never say another word to him, he never had gotten to say his speech on the platform. Antonius wished he was gone too.

"Anton?" a familiar voice questioned and he glanced up to see his sister had returned, the ten year old Cassia who was clutching a brown baggie bearing McDonalds' logo, "What's wrong?"

"Dad… Dad never got to say his speech when he saw me onto the train," Antonius pointed out shakily, trying to swallow his tears and be strong. After all, he _was_ the older siblings, "We were too busy being smart mouths and now… now he'll never get to say it."

"When was ever going to say it anyway?" Cassia wondered logically, her expression blank, "He changed it up and said something else instead, he was never going to go back to that anyway."

"I guess," Antonius sniffed, wiping at his eyes and regretting not letting him say it.

"Here," Cassia said abruptly and Antonius barely glanced in time to catch the baggie she'd flung at him, "Eat up."

"I'm not hungry."

"I didn't ask if you were hungry, I told you to eat up," Cassia pointed out, leaning back against a lamppost and nibbling on some fries while Hope whinged at the food with her tail wagging eagerly, "We need to keep our strength up if you're going to make it to Plymouth and be of any use against the Shadows. And throw some of it to your dog while you're at it."

Antonius sighed, still not feeling hungry but he supposed he could see the logic in that. He looked in the bag, seeing there was a burger and fries. He took out the burger, breaking off a third and chucking it to Hope. The dog dug in happily and Antonius sprinkled a handful of fries across the ground as well for her to eat when she was done.

"If you want us to eat, you should probably eat more than fries yourself," Antonius offered.

"I've been eating as I walked back, only have some of these left," Cassia answered readily and Antonius nodded in understanding.

"Where did you get the money for this anyway?" Antonius sighed as he unhappily bit into the semi-cold burger.

"Nowhere. I stole this stuff," Cassia answered shortly, causing Antonius to almost choke on his burger as he looked back to her in shock but she seemed unfazed.

"You stole food?!"

"Of course I stole food, we have no money but we need to eat to live," Cassia answered in a tone that suggested it was obvious, "It's fucking McDonalds, Anton, me taking one baggie of food didn't kill anyone."

" _Still_ ," Antonius insisted unhappily, "Stealing is wrong."

"So is vigilantism. Get over it."

Antonius sighed, still not feeling very happy about it but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it now. He gnawed away at his stolen food, tasting even colder and blander somehow now he knew it was stolen. They ate in silence which surprised him thinking about it, he couldn't recall the last time Cassia had been this quiet during a meal. Or in general really, the whole walk they'd barely said two words to each other which really wasn't like her.

He glanced at his sister, seeing the same girl who looked like someone had deposited straw on her head as her hair had both the same texture and color like their mother while he had the same extremely dark auburn hair as his dad and Ashains in general tended to. She had the same eyes as him though also like their dad, dark chestnut although now hers carried dark rings beneath them. She didn't _look_ different yet… he still felt she was different somehow, usually she was bubbly but now she silent and her expression ever grim.

She'd been close to their dad so he expected her to take it hard but she actually seemed to be taking it better then him, she hadn't cried and was very much focused on the task. Like she knew what she was doing, which was more then he could say for himself. They finished off the stolen food and Cassia threw out the trash, only then was he reminded the actual reason she'd went off.

"So did you find out anything?" Antonius wondered of her.

"I wouldn't have returned if I didn't," Cassia answered blankly, her words devoid lacking her usual… energy? He wasn't sure how to describe it, "There's a redirected freight train set to come by soon that's headed our way, we should be able to sneak onto that and catch a ride as it slows up going through here."

"Now we're stowaways?"

"Now you have a problem with this?"

Antonius sighed again, he supposed runaway vigilantes couldn't be choosers. Cassia let him away from the platform, heading instead for the tracks themselves and in particular a particular foresty section so the driver was less likely to notice two kids and a dog jumping onboard. Then they just to wait, thankfully they didn't seem to have to wait long and then Cassia took out her – well technically their father's – wand as the train slowed down as expected.

"What are you doing?!" he hissed at her.

"Going to have to get one of these doors open so we can get onboard."

"Well let me do it, I'm the one who's had a year of Hogwarts."

"Exactly so you're bound by the Trace but I'm not, Daddy started teaching me spells this year with his wand," Cassia insisted, making Antonius feel quite useless as she twirled the wand with a steadiness and confidence in the movements even older kids lacked, " _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

She aimed for one of the ones further down, Antonius only recognizing which one when she her arm lurched back and the compartment door on the side slid open. Antonius suddenly had doubts about it as the train swung closer, it had slowed but it still seemed fast and they had to _jump_ into this. He was about to question the safety of their plan when the open side reached them and Cassia threw herself inside, he cried out in panic and now had to run alongside.

"Grab my hand!" Cassia yelled at him as she righted herself, hanging in the entrance and holding her arm out for him as Antonius found himself struggling to keep up.

Throwing caution to the wind, he grabbed her hand and launched himself at the train while she pulled. They tumbled into the compartment together, thankfully all intact as the train started to pick up speed again. Antonius felt a sliver of panic for his dog and opened his mouth to say as much before the giant fur ball landed beside him, having evidently already decided to follow him. He hugged her in relief and she started licking his face, making him sigh mentally. _Dogs._

"Well we made it," Cassia pointed out sitting against the other side of the compartment.

"What about Convaris?" Antonius questioned as he let go of Hope and leaned against the side of the compartment opposite her.

"He's a bird, remember?" Cassia told him and cawed, immediately the massive vulture she had for a pet flew through the massive space and perched on her knee which made him sigh mentally again. _Birds._

* * *

The old house-elf 'Leader' – at least that was what the boy had called him – trudged through the countryside, hobbling along down by the river with his bloody stump clutched protectively to his chest. He didn't know what he was supposed to do anymore, he didn't know where he was supposed to go. How could he? He was a house-elf, he only existed to serve and now his Master was dead. Not even just dead, the boy had wiped him beyond any reach or hope of returning. And he'd just stood there, he'd just let it happen.

He still didn't understand why, he didn't know what had happened. He'd seen his Master in trouble and he'd just… he'd just _not_ acted and the boy had destroyed him. He didn't know why, he was a good servant, a _loyal_ servant but… he just hadn't. He wondered whether it was because the boy had protected him, defended him from a punishment his Master had deemed he deserved. He still didn't understand why the boy had done that either, he had no logical reason to defend him- he'd spent months torturing the boy to prepare him for the Master's task! And yet the child had protected him. He didn't understand, he didn't think his house-elf brain was capable of understanding the more complex humans. He missed when things made sense.

And now he was left at an utter loss of what to do, what was a house-elf without a master? He couldn't bring himself to face the others, to tell them what had happened, what he'd done. Or _hadn't_ done, he hadn't to live with the guilt whatever the semantics were. And yet… a part of his brain- a very, _very_ small part of his brain – felt relief, after all his Master being dead meant he no longer had to suffer his punishments. Even if he had deserved them, of course he had deserved them but it was only basic instinct to not want to be pain.

He blamed the boy. The boy had done this to him, he'd never had these problems before he'd met the child, he swore it. He was actually very much inclined to find the boy, track him down. If he even lived, what he'd done would've destroyed his weak heart and without medical intervention he wouldn't have lasted. The only question if he found him was whether to slaughter him as revenge for his master or to throw himself down at his feet and beg to serve him instead, a house-elf needed a master.

Leader looked up abruptly, startled by the sound of an infant's cry. He'd thought no one was around, he scanned his surroundings in search of some people with a baby but he saw none. Unless they were cloaked by invisibility or the baby was alone, which was impossible unless… no, it couldn't be. Could it? Oathan had tried to save the child, the boy's power was not something a sane being should take lightly.

He headed towards the sound of the – actually quite weak - cries, large round eyes skimming the edge of the river until he caught sight of it. He approached the infant, starting to smell him as he got closer as the baby had most certainly soiled itself. Sure enough, there he was. Wedged amongst rocks by the side was the youngest of the Ashain bloodline, young Cres had survived the Master's attempt.

It was miraculous really, the small body was bloody and battered from what had to be rocks on his travels down the river before he'd become stuck here. He was soaked through and still in water cold enough to be making him shiver, crying hopelessly and weakly as it was all he could possibly do. Leader approached the babe and scooped him up, rather awkwardly but he managed it with his good arm. He was freezing, his skin felt like ice and he was looking very pale and ill but he lived.

For now. Leader wasn't sure what he should do with him, after all he could finish what his master started. The infant was completely at his mercy, it'd be easy - _so_ easy – to hold him under the water until the bubbles stopped or just snap his neck, or kill him a million other ways. The baby was helpless. He'd even stopped crying, lacking the strength and instead just looking up at him with broken, desperate eyes. Ashain eyes. Maybe it wasn't wise to kill potentially the last Ashain, maybe he should raise him instead and serve.

He couldn't do that though, he was in no shape to care for an infant and had no right. After all, until it could speak he would be making decisions for the baby not obeying instruction and that was not his place, it was wrong of him. He'd have to deposit the baby back where he'd come from, wait until he was older. He could always go back and kill the baby later, he couldn't bring the baby anywhere if he killed it though. He needed to think about this so he thought he'd do that, he'd just take him back and when he figured out what he was doing with his life he could come back for him if need be. That sounded like a plan.

Leader apparated them back to outside the grandfather's cottage, dumping the baby on the doorstep and knocking before he could change his mind. He then apparated to further back, hiding behind a rock but still able to see the cottage. He peered out from behind it, not having to wait long before the door opened. He wasn't close enough to make out the facial expression or hear conversation but the man's cry was loud enough he could make it out from back there, he picked the baby immediately up and hugged it, holding it so close.

He apparated before the man could start to look around for who had returned the infant, not wanting to get caught. He still had things to do, he'd figure this out. He decided he would find Oathan, whatever he was going through it had started with the boy and _somehow_ it would end with the boy.

* * *

They sat in silence as the train chuntered on, sitting on opposite sides of the compartment. There were a few boxes on either side but that was it so they sat in the center, Antonius with Hope as the great big dog had decided to rest her head on his lap and he stroked her gently to soothe himself. He still felt cold in the compartment, the evening was drawing in anyway as the light started to leave the sky. He found himself wandering if the trip would be long enough for the night because he thought the train would be as good a place to sleep as any, they were out of the elements and the rhythm of the train was oddly relaxing to him somehow.

"Any idea how long this will take?" Antonius asked of his sister as she took a box out of her pocket.

"No idea," Cassia shrugged as she opened the box, showing off a few rows of cigarettes much to his surprise. His surprise turned to outright shock as she withdrew one, sticking it in her mouth, "Convaris is watching to see-"

"What are you doing?!" Antonius blurted out incredulously as she took her wand back out again.

"Smoking," Cassia answered as blankly as ever before casting a small fiery spell to light the thing.

"You're too young to smoke! Why are you even smoking?!"

"I don't know," Cassia shrugged, coughing a little at the smoke as she pocketed her wand once more, "I heard it's supposed to be relaxing, plus Skye hates it so it must be good."

"No it must not, it's like scientifically proven to be bad for your health," Antonius protested, trying to remember if that was true as he'd been out of a muggle environment for a long time now.

"Bad for _muggles_ health, we're magical. It's fine."

"You're _ten_!"

"I'm not like most ten year olds."

"Where did you even get cigarettes?!"

"Stole 'em."

"Cassia!"

" _What?_ " Cassia wondered, popping the thin stick out of her mouth for a minute, "If it's bad for muggles then I did that guy a favor stealing them and we still have no money. I could do with a way to relax right now."

"What would Dad say?"

"How am I supposed to know? He's dead," Cassia pointed out grimly and put the cigarette back in her mouth as he looked away unhappily, giving up and going back to silence while she smoked.

"I miss Dad," Antonius admitted quietly after a while.

"Me too," Cassia breathed, equally quietly and he glanced back to her in time to catch the melancholic glint in her eyes, "And now we're orphans."

"We have Skye."

"Skye's not our mother."

"Not liking her doesn't mean she's not our mother," Antonius pointed out, starting to wonder if it had been a good idea leaving her.

"Mothers don't have parts of their kids' souls torn out, they don't hand them over to psychopaths and they don't abandon their families," Cassia stated, her voice continuing to sound blank and empty, "Daddy loved us, he fought for us every step of the way and tried to protect us. To call both of them our parents is an insult to him, there's just no comparison."

"I don't know," Antonius simply shrugged, not sure if he agreed but he didn't feel defending Skye. It wasn't like he didn't have issues with her too, "Do you think she'll be alright? She is a muggle, if the Shadow Master starts attacking places other than London she could be in trouble and she wouldn't be able to defend herself."

"I don't care."

"Cassia-"

"I really don't," Cassia insisted, glancing at him and catching his eye, "Tell me I should care, tell me, tell me I'm a monster but I really don't. When I think of her dying for real, I just don't feel anything. Skye is nothing to me."

"Well…" Antonius started to say but trailed off, having no idea where he was going with this, "That sucks."

"Yeah," Cassia said dismissively, her eyes already darting around and he realized her cigarette was almost gone, "Where should I put it out?"

"I don't know, just chuck it out of the- Hey!" Antonius started to suggest an answer but his tune changed in horror as instead of doing that, she put the cigarette out on her wrist which left a red circular burn, "What did you do that for?!"

"Had to put it out."

"You didn't have to hurt yourself!"

"It's okay, pain is good," Cassia shrugged it off dismissively, her expression still blank as she gazed at her wounded wrist while the compartment suddenly seemed to get dark, "Lets you know you're still alive, and that you can still feel…"

"Cassia-"

"Is it just me or did it suddenly get dark?" Cassia cut him off to question as she looked back up.

In fact, she actually getting up and walking over to the open part to peer out. Antonius opened his mouth to chastise her for changing the subject and to point out it was getting dark so what but he stopped himself, he didn't think it got _that_ dark _that_ fast. Not by regular means anyway, not unless you were an evil leader with a magic staff that sucked the light away…

 _BANG!_


	4. IIX: Family Bonds

_**Thanks to:** Nikki graywood and Colin Creevey for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 _ **Why does Cassia worry about the Trace on Antonius? How on earth would they even keep track of it?** _  
_Not knowing exactly how it works she worries that 1) they took the Trace with them when they tried to evacuate so can still track it or 2) that having taken London, the Shadows now have access to the Trace and can track them_

 _ **Even if they could, why would they focus so incessantly on a single boy doing underage magic when Hogwarts is gone and they have fifty other more important things to worry about?** _  
_Because he ran away to join a vigilante group_

 _ **What does the Ministry think? Are kids no longer allowed to do magic now Hogwarts is caput or do they just not care about underage magic anymore?** _  
_The latter, for the timebeing they don't really care if kids do magic and have bigger things to worry about_

* * *

The whole compartment – maybe even the whole train – lurched violently, Cassia was thrown out of it well out of his sight while Antonius himself and Hope were just flung like clothes in a washing machine. And then he didn't know, everything was just happening moving too fast. He heard his dog yelp, he felt pain as he was slammed into the compartment - or maybe the boxes, it was hard to tell – and bounced off it and outside then.

He felt the air slicing through him, he caught a brief glimpse of train compartments but it was too brief and too dark to tell anything as he was thrown down into the dirt. He bounced painfully off that, was aware that he was tumbling while train compartments fell around him like raindrops. A scream was torn from him as he felt his leg wrenched agonizingly, accompanied by a sickening crunching snapping sound.

Antonius lay there on his stomach in the dirt, trying to breathe through the pain. He could hear screaming but it sounded further off, he could hear more explosions but they also sounded far off. He couldn't see anything from where he was though, the faintest of blue lights provided some light but it wasn't close enough to illuminate much and the source was behind him. He could only see vague shapes that looked like train compartments, no sign of Cassia or Hope. He tried to move to look but couldn't, aside from the wave of pain it caused there was still a weight on him that had him pinned.

"ANTONIUS!" Cassia's voice yelled through the darkness desperately.

"CASSIA!" Antonius called back, feeling relieved as to speak she had to be okay.

He heard the scrabbling of feet from somewhere a lot closer than the screams and explosions, it was actually his dog not his sister he saw however as the giant mutt limped towards him and he again was relieved to know she was okay. For now. He reached out to Hope as best he could as she approached, also noticing a light out of the corner of his eye.

"ANTON?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Cassia's voice shouted out once more, this time closer and coming from the direction of the light.

"OVER HERE!" Antonius yelled back again, trying to wave at the light.

It seemed to work as the light ran towards him, the light of a wand which was indeed being held by his sister. She was looking almost as battered as he felt, her clothes were torn in place and he saw a myriad of minor cuts and scrapes across her skin. Her left arm was also hanging in a way that didn't look very normal, she looked very concerned.

"Okay, okay," Cassia muttered, seemingly almost to herself as her eyes skimmed the situation, "I'm going to have to levitate the compartment off you."

"Are you sure you can levitate something that big?" Antonius wondered, worried both at that and the fact the weight on the pain that was his leg was a train compartment."

"I have to be. _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " Cassia cried with confidence, twirling her wand.

Antonius slowly felt the pressure lift from his leg while his sister slowly raised her wand, her face a mask of intense concentration. Finally she flicked the wand and released the spell, it was followed by a whoosh and a loud thud as it was cast off. He glanced back to his legs and saw he was lying half on the track, his left leg was on the dirt slop off it and the right… Antonius resisted the urge to gag looking at the right. The right was on the track and it was bent, not on the knee like legs should bend but his _shin_.

"It's okay, you can lean on me for support and it'll be okay," Cassia decided, not looking as confident as she sounded.

"My leg is toast, I don't think it's that simple," Antonius pointed out as his sister tried to sling his arm around her shoulder anyway, "Cassia, I can't walk."

"Well hope then because you can't stay here," Cassia insisted, hauling him up anyway and he screamed in pain as the movement aggravated his tortured leg even though he was only standing on the good foot. He clung to Cassia, trying desperately to breathe through the pain before they jumped at a nearish explosion, "I'm sorry it hurts but we'll die if we don't move. Or maybe be captured. Convaris says she's attacking someplace else but there's random explosions going off for miles like she doesn't have control so I don't know if they're taking prisoners but either way is bad."

"We can't get very far," Antonius said through teeth gritted against the pain as Cassia tried to take a step, moving sending shockwaves of pain through his leg even though he tried keep it still.

"Convaris says there's a farmhouse not too far from here, we can hole up there."

"Cassia, I _can't_ ," Antonius insisted, feeling tears of pain roll unwittingly down his cheeks as Cassia had them hobble on.

"You can, you're already doing it. Come on, we're almost there."

"We've barely even started moving!"

"And the first step is the hardest, come on!" Cassia urged, forcing them to keep going regardless.

And so they moved further from the sounds and the wreck, the sounds becoming more distant but Antonius was barely aware of that. All he knew was pain, his leg felt unbelievably raw and every step jostled it – no matter how careful he moved, although Cassia was forcing them to move so quickly didn't help – renewing the agony.

He had no idea how much time passed or how long they moved, it had been going dark anyway and either the Shadow Master's darkness remained the whole journey or it faded when it should already be dark but either way it was dark. The only light was Cassia's wand in his face which was annoying but seemed to help keep him awake, banishing the dark specks that sometimes danced around his vision when the pain was bad. It felt like an eternity, like he was trapped in this methodical torturous pain.

The only other things he did notice was the cold, the cold only worsened and by the time they reached the farmhouse he was shivering violently. He was also tired, so tired that Cassia could've dropped him and he was sure he'd be asleep the second he hit the ground. She'd been speaking to him he was sure but he hadn't really been listening, it was going in one ear and out the other because paying attention was hard. He was sure she'd told him they'd arrived too but it wasn't until she banged on a door right in front of his face that he really noticed.

"HELLO?!" Cassia yelled at the silence as she hammered her hand into the door, making him aware the first time they'd either moved far enough from the attack to not hear it anymore or that it stopped, "Hello?! Is there anybody home?! We were attacked and we're injured, we could really use some help!"

Silence.

"I don't think anyone's home," Antonius croaked and realized how thirsty he was.

" _Alohomora_ ," Cassia cast instead, waving her wand at the door and he heard it click open.

"Dad really taught you that spell?"

"He said I'd probably never need it but it was useful to know nonetheless just in case," Cassia answered before kicking the door open, making him anxious again as it occurred to him this was someone's _home_.

"So now we're breaking and entering?!" Antonius hissed at her.

"I did knock," Cassia pointed out as if that justified everything while she barged in, taking Antonius with her.

Cassia hauled him through a door on the left which led to a quaint living room, there was a massive old fireplace opposite a television with two large striped couches placed in between the two. She led him over to them and laid him down on the right one, he felt a flood of relief as he could finally stop aggravating the extension of pain that was his leg.

He sunk into the comfortable couch, his eyes flickering from sleep before he was jostled abruptly awake by a roar of flames. He opened his eyes to see Cassia had just lit the fireplace up with her wand, his frozen body welcomed the warmth.

"Don't go to sleep yet, we have to do something about your leg," Cassia told him, gesturing to the bloody mess he'd rather not look at so instead he looked at Hope who was sniffing everything in sight excitedly.

"Why? We're not doing anything about your dislocated shoulder," Antonius countered tiredly, just wanting to sleep.

"Is that's what's wrong with it?" Cassia wondered curiously, looking at her limp arm, "That's the thing you can just pop it back in the socket, right?"

"Right but I wouldn't recommend it since we don't know- Hey!" Antonius was forced to change his sentence as Cassia grabbed her shoulder and shoved at it, crying out in pain as she did so, "We don't know what we're doing, you could make it worse!"

"No, I got it," Cassia said through gritted teeth, looking pain as she tried again except this time twisting it slightly and there was a pop as it seemed to slot back into place. She rubbed it while moving it slightly, still looking in pain, "Still hurts but I got it."

"Or you made it worse! Are you mad?!"

"Maybe but I'll take the risk, two arms is better than one and I have no idea how soon we can get healing," Cassia answered, breathing heavily for a minute, "So now your leg."

"You don't know anything about medical care!" Antonius protested incredulously.

"I know you're not supposed to have bones sticking out of you! And I know people can bleed to death!" Cassia counted readily and Antonius did become acutely aware of the dampness around his lower leg, "I'm pretty sure if you haven't lost a lot of blood _already_ you _will_ if we don't do something. We can just put it back in and bandage then it'll be fine until we can get you real medical care, simple."

"I don't think it's that simple and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to clean the wounds before you bandage them anyway."

"Well that's easy, we can do that. I'll go look for the stuff."

"Cassia!" Antonius protested as she made to leave, "I don't think this is a good idea and it's stealing."

"Well what do you think is a good idea, huh?!" Cassia snapped back at him, "All you do is complain, at least I'm trying! You'll die if we do nothing so if you're not going to say anything useful then shut up and let me help you!"

Antonius fell silent, finding nothing to say or add as she left. No wonder his friends had kicked him out of Gray, even Cassia thought he was being annoying. He lay there and listened to the soothingly crackling of the fire, finding his eyes sliding shut again. Everyone would be better off if he never woke up…

"Hope, no! This is not your drinking water!" Cassia's frantic cry snapped his eyes back open to see he'd returned with some supplies, including a bowl of water that Hope was trying to drink. Cassia managed to keep it out of her reach though and put it on a side table beside the couch, leaving Hope to go lie down and sulk, "I'll get you something in a minute, we have to fix Anton's leg first."

"Oh great," Antonius groaned unhappily.

"Come on, I put my shoulder back so putting your bone back shouldn't be that bad," Cassia insisted optimistically but not thoroughly convincingly as she knelt by his wounded leg, "So… are you ready?"

"No," Antonius muttered and squeezed his eyes shut.

He felt a painful pressure as she put her hands on his wounded leg, he gritted his teeth and tried to brace himself while he heard her take a deep breath. It hurt. So much. He screamed, he screamed uncontrollably as agony tore through his leg as Cassia shoved the bone back inside the limb. He wasn't entirely sure he didn't pass out from the pain as he lay there shaking, failing to blink back the stream of tears.

"There. It's okay, it's all over now," Cassia was saying and he flicked his eyes back open to see his leg was… flat again, she was now gently cleaning the blood off his shin with a damp cloth. The warm water was refreshing at least even though it still hurt, thankfully not as bad as when she was setting it.

"Just don't do it again," Antonius breathed, earning a glance from her and noticed Hope was now lapping up water from a different bowl of water.

"Like I'd ever _want_ to do that again, if you could not drop another train compartment on your leg then I'd be pretty happy with that."

"You and me both," Antonius sighed and looked at his wounded leg she was cleaning, he swallowed, "So… how bad do you think the damage is?"

"I don't know, I don't know anything about medical care," Cassia answered with a shrug as she wrung the bloody rag back into the bowl of now bloody water, "But it has to be better than it was."

"Yeah," Antonius admitted as she started bandaging his leg, "Do you think the owners are going to be mad when they come home and find you've used their bandages?"

"Well they're on vacation for two weeks, if they even make it back we'll be long gone by then."

"How could you possibly know that?" Antonius wondered in bewilderment.

"They have it marked on their calendar in the kitchen, Mary and Todd Chamberlain are pretty good at keeping that up to date. They have 'church' marked every Sunday so I think they'd be fine sparing the bandages eight years out of date that they have, pretty sure their god commands it."

"You're really… thorough," Antonius pointed out, not sure whether to be impressed or concerned.

"Well part of being an Auror is investigation so I gotta be, especially if I'm going to be good enough to be Head Auror," Cassia answered as if it was obvious while she continued to bandage his leg, for some reason he thought it looked off.

"You still think you'll do that?"

"I don't think, I _know_. I'm Cassia Motherfucking Ashain, remember that name."

"But your middle name is Skye…"

"Not when I legally change it to Motherfucking when I come of age."

"But you can't change it to that!" Antonius protested incredulously, "Why that of all things? Why not something normal? Do you really want them to be introduced as Cassia Motherfucking Ashain when you're standing at the altar on your wedding day?"

"Yeah, if the guy doesn't laugh then I'm marrying the wrong guy," Cassia answered as she finished bandaging, "Well there, it's done. I'll see if I can find some blankets and we can sleep here on these couches for tonight."

"Really? You don't think we should keep moving?" Antonius wondered in surprise, as much as he wanted to rest he wasn't sure it was for the best. They did want to rejoin Gray as soon as possible, they still had to save Sebastian and the others left behind and he wanted to help, "The Shadow Master did just attack."

"Like I said, she attacked someplace else and the explosions were just far reaching then we moved even further away than that. If she randomly appears and attacks where we are, it's just as likely as if we're moving and there's nothing we can really do about it. I think we're better off just getting some rest for now, the road to Plymouth just got even longer so it doesn't change much to sleep for the night."

"I guess that makes sense, I… I just don't want to slow us down," Antonius admitted unhappily, trying to keep his eyes open again.

"You're not, the Shadows are," Cassia insisted firmly, he still felt somewhat bad but nodded all the same as that was also true, "Do you want anything?"

"Water would be nice," Antonius muttered meekly but his throat did feel parched.

She nodded and left, leaving him with the snoring Hope and Antonius found his eyes closing again. He felt very beat and warmth of the fire was very relaxing, it brought to mind home with his dad back in Hogwarts. He wasn't sure if he was just thinking or dreaming as it came to mind being young, cuddled up to his dad by the fire because he didn't feel very well. He felt safe there, he wanted to be with his dad.

"Here," Cassia's voice said softly, pulling his heavy eyelids back open to see she was putting a blanket around him, "And your water is on the table beside you."

"Thanks," Antonius offered and sat up a little to reach for his drink, gulping down the cool water while Cassia lay on the couch opposite him and pulled a blanket over herself. He finished his drink and lay back down, pulling the warmth blanket over himself and gazing over at his sister. He felt lucky to have her, "You know for everything, you're pretty amazing."

"I know," Cassia yawned sleepily, her eyes already closed and he felt himself slipping too, "I'm Cassia Motherfucking Ashain."

* * *

"Come on, Bertie, eat up," John Avery was urging Michael's little brother gently, "It tastes good, see Orous likes it."

Orous Knox froze mid-chewing as Bertie's hazel eyes glanced to his right at Orous sitting beside him, John would decide to drag him into the conversation when he'd just shoved the last of his cereal into his mouth and couldn't speak but had to kind of nod instead. Bertie was extremely anxious he'd learned and when they'd switched the channel off the old rock videos Lysel only insisted on watching every waking second to check the news, hearing of the continued attacks by the Shadow Master had sent the kid into a panic attack. They'd spent ages trying to calm him down, ultimately needed to give him a Calming Draught and he was still somewhat afraid and put off eating his breakfast.

Why was this even Orous' problem? Because of his bad back he was forced to sit to eat and the couch beside Bertie had been the only available one, there were too many people in this one muggle house. Varanian was only starting to move people to the new base now which wasn't big enough anyway, that was why Orous and his twin were going home today. They'd still be involved – they didn't have their licenses yet because of their July birthday but they were perfectly capable of apparation so traveling to Gray wasn't an issue, that July birthday was almost upon them so they were practically of age so no one could say they were too young either – just not sleeping in the same place.

"Lysel! What have I told you?!" Michael snapped as he stalked into the room in a fury, the tall werewolf with wild brown hair and mismatched eyes had had a _very_ short temper of late. He snatched up the remote and lowered the volume of the television, "Keep it down, if I can hear it from across the hall it's too loud!"

"But it's my favorite," the toddler whinged, the golden eyed young werewolf kneeling in front of the screen as usual.

"Sick people need rest over there!"

"Maybe the music would of help them get better," Lysel suggested innocently, Michael answered with a glare and handed the remote to Latimer as the pockmarked teen walked into the room.

"Keep that away from him."

"Erm… sure," Latimer muttered in reply but Michael was already storming off, "Who am I keeping it from?"

"Ron," Lysel lied effortlessly and Latimer handed him the remote.

"Well here, don't let Ron have it for… some reason," Latimer handed it off.

"Yessir!" Lysel agreed and ran off back to the television, cranking the volume back up.

"So Orous, are you ready to go yet?"

"Does he look like he's ready to go?" his biological father Roman answered for him as Orous desperately tried to swallow the cereal, Roman seemed to have been trying to spend time with him even though now was not the most ideal time, "His mouth is still full."

"Well try hurry, the sooner things get less crowded the sooner we can actually do something about the Shadows," Latimer pointed out as he turned to leave, Bertie tensing at the mention of them when he'd been just about to take a mouthful of cereal off John.

"Damn it, Latimer," John complained irritably but he'd already left, instead the eldest of Michael's siblings - Agnes - was running in while Orous finally swallowed the lump of cereal.

"Orous, I need to know something really, really, _really_ important," Agnes said to him, the half of the poor kid's face still capable of making expression looked concerned, the other half was just a mess of horrific claw scars.

"What is it?" Orous asked worriedly while John went back to comforting and coaxing Bertie to eat, not sure what it could be.

"I need to know what Hugo's favorite color is," Agnes told him in a tone of the utmost seriousness, he tried very hard not to look at her like she'd gone crazy even though he felt like she had.

"Um… why?"

"Because I'm helping give out the food to the injured and I don't know what bowl to bring Hugo since I don't know what his favorite color is," Agnes elaborated as if it was a real problem.

"I really don't think he cares what color bowl his cereal comes in."

"Yes but I need to make it special for him, he's injured and deserves the best treatment. You know? And that includes the color of his bowl being his favorite, or at least one that he likes. What- What if I pick a color he hates? He'll think I'm a terrible person."

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't think _that_ ," Orous insisted in confusion, "I don't know what his favorite color is anyway."

"Well you're no help then," Agnes complained and stalked off.

"Mummy likes lilac," Lysel offered readily but Agnes shook her head dismissively.

"That doesn't help me."

"But she's injurned too!" Lysel called after her as Agnes continued out.

"There you go!" John cried happily and Orous glanced back to see Bertie had finally taken a spoonful, Orous swore this was the most he'd ever heard John speak, "It tastes good, huh?"

"Okay breakfast is finally done," Crystal announced with relief as she came in the room from the other side, Michael's mother and the former Death Eater both immediately froze at the realization they were in the same room, "Did I say finally? I meant _nearly_."

"No its okay, I have to uh…" John stammered out, leaping to his feet and trying not to look at Crystal while she tried not to look at him, "Go check on the… hallway because of the… wallpaper."

"Sounds important," Crystal nodded while John fled out the other door like a dragon was chasing him, Orous had no idea what was with them but they were avoiding each other like their lives depended on it.

"It wasn't even a coherent sentence," Roman pointed out incredulously as Crystal took John's seat the other side of Bertie.

"It sounded fine to me," Crystal lied lamely as she took over trying to coax Bertie to eat.

"Then I think you should have someone check your ears."

"Roman," Orous sighed, earning a glance from the muddy brown eyes.

"What? If she thinks that was a coherent sentence she misheard and could be a problem with her ears so it should be looked into."

"I finished my breakfast," Orous said instead to change the subject, deciding to not explain what had clearly gone over Roman's head.

"Oh good, I'll take your bowl out for you," Roman offered, standing and coming over to take it while Orous stood.

"I got it."

"Your back is still healing! You _have_ to take it easy," Roman insisted fiercely, snatching the bowl from him.

"It's a _bowl_ ," Orous pointed out incredulously but Roman was already leaving with it.

Orous sighed to himself and stood, heading out and passing Michael angrily returning to probably complain about the volume again. Yes, Orous would not miss the excess time here, if anything he was looking forward to only being here when necessary for the war. They still needed to figure a way to save those left behind in the heavily fortified Hogwarts and the attacks… well, at the very least they could help the survivors of these attacks. By all accounts the Shadows actually weren't taking over the places they were destroying and enslaving humanity, the Shadow Master was just raining destruction down upon the populace then storming off. She was pissed, Orous didn't know all the details but she was enraged. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when that woman was as powerful as Sal.

"Orous!" a very welcome voice called and he turned to see his girlfriend, Lily Potter, leaving the dining turned hospital room to come over to him. She had warm brown eyes behind oval glasses she despised and had almost shoulder length red hair that to her chagrin was as untamable as her brother's, he thought it was cute though and that she was very beautiful, "I'm glad I didn't miss you."

"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," Orous assured her, encircling his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head, "How's Al?"

"Still no change," Lily admitted, remaining in the embrace and letting him rub her back soothingly. Her brother Albus had been badly injured escaping Hogwarts, he still hadn't woken up, "Hogan said he was doing better though, he popped by earlier to check on everyone. Said Al was stable now."

"Stable's good."

"It's not great though, it's not getting better and waking up."

"At least he's not getting any worse," Orous offered, trying to stay positive for her.

"Are you ready to go, Orous?" he found himself asked yet again, forcing them to break apart their embrace to see the speaker. This time his non-identical twin, the deaf Maurice Rivers who was clutching at the translator necklace which converted speech to words for him to read.

"I'll see you later," Lily told him, giving Orous a peck on the lips and he gave her a farewell hug, "Apparently there's breakfast so I should eat, be back soon."

"I will," Orous promised as Lily headed towards the kitchen, he turned back to his brother feeling kind of annoyed at the interruption. He actually worried a great deal about his relationship with Lily, her other brother James was a Shadow who had murdered his best friend – who was James' own cousin no less – and Orous _was_ going to kill him as revenge. He worried how she'd take that.

"Did I interrupt your goodbye?" Maurice wondered.

"Yes."

"Sorry, I just really want to get going," Maurice offer apologetically, he'd also been injured in the escape which was why they'd had to wait until he was medically cleared to leave, "I'm looking forward to going home to Dad and I want put some protective enchant-"

"Yes?" Roman interjected, half-eagerly and half-nervously as he came over to them. Maurice looked at him with an unreadable expression, they had a kind of complicated past. In fact, Orous wasn't sure they'd even spoken in years.

"What do you want?" Maurice questioned shortly, the brisk tone skewering Roman's expression to solely nervous.

"You said my name."

"No I didn't."

"You did, I heard you say 'Dad,'" Roman pointed out and Maurice's blank face faltered to surprise for a second.

"Oh," Maurice blinked with his oceanic eyes, looking a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry, by Dad I was talking about Cade. I started calling him that recently and… well, he doesn't seem to mind."

"But… But I'm your Dad," Roman stammered out, looking hurt.

"Well Cade's been more of a Dad to me in the past few years then you have my entire life," Maurice snapped, unshed anger eating into his words which he seemed to regret or made an attempt to reign in anyway while Roman just looked even more hurt.

"I- I couldn't, the Shadows-"

"I know, okay?! I know you were forced to work for them, I know it's not really your fault, I know you had your soul scrambled and you've been going through a lot lately. I get it but…" Maurice cut him off readily and paused a little, Roman watching solemnly, "I don't know, I just don't want to talk about this right now."

"I understand," Roman muttered meekly, hanging his head and Maurice turned away.

"When you're ready, Orous, I'll wait outside."

"Okay," Orous said even though Maurice couldn't hear and had already walked off, he sighed and instead turned to Roman and gave him a hug. Cade had raised Orous from infancy and would always be his dad to him too but… well he liked Roman well enough, they'd gotten more time together in recent years and he felt for his biological dad, he still cared about him, "I'll see you soon, _Dad_."

"Thanks," Roman mumbled quietly, a weak sheepish smile on his face as they pulled apart, "Take care of yourself."

"You too. And let the others know we're off."

"Sure," Roman agreed, giving him a one handed wave as Orous headed out after Maurice who was indeed waiting outside.

"I'll apparate us," Maurice offered, extending his hand which was scarred by layers and layers of words from the Training Tower's blood quills, "No point risking your Trace unless we really have to."

Orous sighed and took his twin's hand, knowing there was no point arguing and he didn't have a good reason for wanting to apparate beyond simply desiring it anyway. Maurice apparated them to outside their house, an extremely new house actually since a few months ago their very dangerous, evil younger half-brother had decided to demolish it so they'd moved. It was a much larger house which was good considering Cade had just adopted an orphaned – by the same half-brother who destroyed their house and caused Orous' back injury no less - infant, he was also fostering the baby's brother and his girlfriend – who had bought the house with him actually - had moved in.

Orous wasted no time in striding over to the door, his gait a little wonky but he was very determinedly not using his cane in the hopes people would stop obsessing over an injury he was pretty much over. He knocked on the door to let them know they had company but also unlocked it since he had a key, he went in with Maurice just as Cade was coming into the hallway. Cade was tall and lanky with a head he kept shaved but blond eyebrows betrayed his hair color, he was a muggle firefighter but he was the best stepdad Orous could've asked for.

"Orous! I'm so glad you're okay, I heard about what happened. I was so worried," Cade offered in greeting, relief flooding his face and he pulled Orous into a hug the second he saw him. Breaking apart only to spot Maurice and gave him a hug as well, Maurice hugged him tightly, "And Maurice, of course."

"Is Tabitha okay?" Maurice asked as they pulled apart and it occurred to Orous for the first time Cade's girlfriend may have been in danger, they didn't live in London but Tabitha worked there as a Healer in St Mungo's.

"Yeah," Cade nodded and signed his answer with his hands as well while backing up, gesturing into the living room where Orous heard a shriek of childish laughter. He peered in and saw the witch was with the baby Caradoc, playing with him and whatever she had done was making him laugh with delight. The foster boy Amadeus was sitting alone on the couch, the mute watched them silently with a blank expression. The three dogs they had hurried over to greet them, tails wagging and Orous petted them briefly, "Just barely though, they were evacuating and she got the last Portkey out with Harry Potter."

"Lily's dad made it then," Orous observed and Cade glanced at him, something in his expression giving him pause, "What?"

"Did you hear about what happened to Ginny Potter?" Cade asked, signing as he spoke for Maurice to not have to use his necklace. They both shook their heads, "She was killed by Cel Rooke, he was a Shadow traitor. He murdered her before freeing the Shadow Master, tried to kill his own son too who she was babysitting. Tab said Harry had been sitting with him the whole time when everyone was evacuating."

"Great," Orous sighed sadly, "How do you tell your girlfriend her mother died?"

"You just have to be honest," Cade offered while Amadeus wandered over, Cade gave the little boy a kind smile, "Hey Amadeus, you remember Orous and Maurice? They were there the day I got you."

'Yes,' Amadeus signed with his hands.

"He knows sign language?" Orous wondered in surprise.

"I'm teaching him," Cade answered simply before looking back to the boy proudly, "Well done, Amadeus."

Amadeus shrugged and wandered off, he was a weird kid by all accounts but he'd also been a through a lot. Even before his parents died, they had not been kind people if the scars they'd left on their own children were anything to go by.

"He doesn't have a lot of self- confidence, we're trying to work on that," Cade explained, giving a sympathetic glance after the boy before turning his focus back to them, "Anyway, it's good to have you back… Will you be staying?"

"What do you mean?" Orous wondered in confusion.

"Come on, just because I'm a muggle it doesn't mean I'm completely stupid," Cade pointed out, continuing to sign for Maurice to follow along although Orous wasn't sure where Cade was going, "I suspected it even before everyone was saying Maurice Rivers and Gray evacuated the majority of Hogwarts saving hundreds of lives while the Headmaster surrendered without trying, then you've been gone days while most everyone who evacuated was home the same night. I know you're both Gray and that that's where you've been."

"You're not surprised?" Maurice inquired curiously.

"Honestly, I'd be more surprised if you _weren't_ by this point," Cade explained and Orous exchanged a sheepish glance with Maurice, he wasn't sure whether to feel bad for being found out or proud that Cade had figured it out.

"Well we were going to stay here but help out with them still so kind of both."

"Okay," Cade nodded seemingly in understanding and acceptance.

"You're okay with that?" Orous wondered, glad but also surprised.

"Why wouldn't I be? I want you to be safe but the world's ending, nowhere is safe and Gray's pretty much the only hope we have so…" Cade explained, trailing off and ending with a shrug, "Plus you're both practically of age, you're old enough to make up your own minds and I respect your decisions."

"Thanks, Dad," Orous offered, smiling in gratitude and giving Cade another hug.

"I'm a muggle and all so I'm pretty useless but… if there actually _is_ anything I can do to help, let me know. We're in this together."


	5. IIX: Holding Out

_**Thanks to:** TheGreatAthlon5, RandomGerman, Colin Creevey, Cal, Quarba and SiriusSunday for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 _ **Where did it all come from? Some work with dad or something?**  
The work with her dad is just how she can do some spells, as to where the rest came from... Firstly, the medical knowledge she actually doesn't have, she didn't know her shoulder was dislocated or that wounds needed to be cleaned until Antonius mentioned it (if she did know, she would've fixed her arm sooner), she just did the best she could using her limited knowledge and common sense, younger kids then her could probably deduce bones aren't supposed to stick out of the body and that bleeding isn't healthy. She didn't even do a good job, Antonius' leg is still in bad shape and without further medical intervention soon he'll have permanent damage. As for keeping them moving, Cassia has always been good in a crisis, from as early as book 2 she was quick thinking enough to get away and growing up with the war has only honed that like is shown in previous books like 4 or 5, she's been growing up fast her whole life and always has had a mix of childishness and maturity because of that, the latter just hasn't had to come up as much as it didn't need to but this side of her has existed for a long time now. Also think about who she's around, either her teenage war obsessed friends, the adult staff or birds, birds who have to fend for themselves and have an idea on how to survive, they also don't care about things like not taking things and she's had them steal things before for her. Final point on her attitude is that her dad just died, her dad was her hero and his death had a profound effect on both his kids  
_

 _ **Why exactly are they trying to reach Plymouth?** _  
_Because its where the Embry's house is, where they were before Varanian returned them to Skye. Gray (apart from a few stragglers) is kind of divided up between the Embry's (where Michael is), Hogan's (where Scorpius is) and the new base (where Brutus is) right now and the Embry's is the only one they know the location of, the location being Plymouth as seen in book 2_

 ** _How WILL Orous tell Lily about her mother?_**  
 _He'll just have to take her aside and be honest_

* * *

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy had not been having a good week, then again no one had really. He'd been staying at Hogan Leebin's house, aside from Hogan himself of course Martha Seneca and Ephraim Lamb were still there. His girlfriend, Molly Weasley, was also obviously there still but he hadn't gotten to see much of her. After the ordeal she'd been through, she remained essentially bedridden and slept most of the time. The strangest person there was Oathan Loren, the extremely estranged half-brother of his friends Maurice and Orous who Varanian had randomly brought in half-dead. Quite literally, the boy was barely alive and Hogan toiled for hours on end just to maintain that.

He'd felt tense to say the least, he'd saved Molly but still he worried for her. He also worried about his friends, he wasn't initially clear on what had happened and who was hurt and how badly. Considering the reception he'd been greeted with last time, he was afraid to go back to the Embry's to find out how everyone was doing, he didn't want to cause in trouble. On top of that he was mourning, he had lost several people he cared about even if everyone else was in perfect health there had been loss. And he had to carry that on his shoulders, for the most part – he'd had nothing to do with the base being destroyed after all – as it had been his fault. Martha was avoiding him now because of it, her brother hadn't survived the attack on Hogwarts. It all just nibbled away at him and made feel extremely restless, he wanted to be doing something to make for it or to distract himself.

He was so on edge he'd almost attacked someone, when returning from getting a glass of water he saw a man he didn't recognize dressed in strangely ill-fitting clothes. He was fairly tall with oddly damp brown hair and brown eyes to match, he looked around his mid-twenties and probably had been handsome before gaining an assortment of scars. In fact, Scorpius had thought he reminded him of someone but regardless had drawn his wand causing the man to startle and hold his hands up.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Scorpius had demanded, jabbing his wand at the man.

"I- I- It's me, Eph- Ephraim L- Lamb? You- you said that- that I could b- be here?" the man had stammered out, looking desperately confused and Scorpius lowered his wand in shock recognition of his voice, "D- Do you mean I c- can't be- be Gray any- anymore?"

"No, I'm sorry, I just didn't recognize you" Scorpius offered apologetically, feeling very embarrassed as he pocketed his wand. Ephraim had clearly washed and changed out of the long thick cloak Scorpius had always seen him in, he'd also cut his long hair and shaved his beard completely making the homeless werewolf look a far cry from how he usually did, "You look completely different all cleaned up."

"I- I- I'm s- sorry," Ephraim apologized, lowering his hands and Scorpius noticed one of them had started twirling the way it did due to damaged nerves or something, "Ho- Hogan said I c- could. Well, more- more like _demanded_ I _should_."

That sounded like Hogan, he was… kind of odd to say the least and Scorpius could see why Michael hadn't found the old Healer particularly fun to work with before. Though Scorpius could also see why Hogan might be so grumpy, he had to be the lightest sleeper Scorpius had ever met. At night he, Hogan and Ephraim just slept strewn around the living room with some spare blankets – Martha was up with Molly – due to the lack of space. Hogan wound count under his breath for a long time, making it well into hundreds if not thousands before seeming to sleep. When he finally did sleep, he was woken by anything. Absolutely anything. Sure there were times he must've been woken by some charm on Oathan as he'd immediately hurry to end to the boy but mostly it was nothing, the wind or a creak of the floorboards from upstairs, even breathing too loudly or turning could startle him awake. Then he'd start counting all over again, this would happen multiple times a night no matter how quiet or uneventful the night was so by the time dawn came – Hogan would always get up at dawn – he'd barely scraped a couple of hours of sleep, at best. It was bizarre.

Ephraim occasionally startling awake in panic from nightmares didn't seem as bad in comparison, though maybe paying so much attention to their sleeping habits showed how bad Scorpius' own insomnia was. Sleep was challenging when you were responsible for a school and town falling to the Shadows, people were hurt and dead including those he cared for. Not to mention other pressing concerns like the imminent danger and attack from the Shadows, how time was running out to save his cousin's soul before they both perished, how to stop an immortal powerhouse and how in the world he had also come back to life. He hadn't told anyone about the latter, he didn't think Molly or Martha had either. On the other hand, despite all that his sleep pattern still wasn't as strange as Hogan's. And it was hardly the only time he had a strange reaction to something, like when hearing London had fallen.

"Did St Mungo's also fall?" Hogan had questioned immediately of Varanian, the metamorphmagus looking slightly puzzled by the question.

"Yes. _All of London_ fell," Varanian had reiterated and Hogan had thrown up his hands angrily.

"Well now what am I supposed to do for work?!"

"What?"

"My job! I work at St Mungo's," Hogan pointed out irritably, "Or I did before it fell. Now what am I supposed to do? I have to have a job. I _need_ a job."

"You work for Gray, don't- don't you?" Ephraim wondered but Hogan shot him a glare.

"That's not a job! I mean a _paid_ job, to make a living because I have bills and alimony and-"

"The Ministry was in London too, they also fell so no one's going to care about bills and alimony," Varanian pointed out but Hogan didn't look the slightest bit calmer.

"I care!"

"Gringotts was also in London so even if you did have a job you couldn't get paid," Scorpius added, lost at why Hogan was bothered by this, "The country's kind of falling, regular life is going to be disrupted so it doesn't matter."

"It matters to _me_!" Hogan yelled, stamping his foot like a toddler, "It's how life _works_ , you get a job and- Fuck! Now I have to go stabilize Oathan again."

Hogan stormed off, kicking angrily at a wall on his way out and continuing to mutter under his breath. He did that. He was a good Healer though – he actually wore his Healer robes every day because… Scorpius didn't know – and even though Molly was sleeping a lot, the few times he did get to see her the wounds she had looked better every time so they'd just have to deal with him. Having an experienced Healer was probably a good thing right now.

It was just after that Varanian started moving people to the new base where he'd been the past few days guarding Brutus Ashain, apparently he'd captured him and one of the Shadow Master's children so they were in the basement. This meant a lot to Scorpius, he really wanted to talk to Brutus. Apart from the information he could provide in general due to his high rank, he knew where Calderon's body was and if anyone knew anything on the Shadow Master's immortality it was him. Unfortunately, now wasn't exactly the time to demand an audience when Varanian was busy organizing the move.

The new base wasn't as big as the last base which was why Varanian had been reluctant to move people there when Molly was captured but they didn't have a choice now, however because of the smaller size some would still be staying at Hogan's and the Embry's for the time being. Hogan also advised it was better to keep the more severely injured in the same places to heal so they'd probably move more to the base as people got better, least Scorpius hoped they got better. Scorpius could actually do something finally, helping those moving in Hogan's house. They moved Oathan in with Molly as both were injured while that now empty room would instead be taken by Hogan's nephew Flannery Leebin and his family, wife Myriam and the their children Maurene and Lysel. Scorpius, Hogan and Ephraim were still fine with the living room while Martha would be moving to the base.

"You're leaving?" Scorpius wondered of Martha in surprise when he heard, the thirteen year old looked a little confused.

"I'm not leaving Gray, I'm just going to this base," Martha explained, maybe he should've been clearer what he meant.

"I know, I just meant _why_. You know, you don't have to go."

"But I want to, I feel like I could do more there," Martha pointed out before sighing, averting her cloudy gray eyes, "Besides, I'm sure Molly is perfectly nice and all but sharing a room with her feels pretty… um… awkward, and that's when she's _asleep_ most of the time."

"I… I guess I can understand that," Scorpius admitted, in truth it hadn't occurred to him but he felt better knowing she wasn't leaving because of him. He didn't want there to be bad blood between them.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't know, I just didn't want you to leave just because you were mad at me. I really am sorry about your brother."

"I'm not mad at you," Martha told him, sounding perfectly sincere much to surprise as she turned to leave, "I'm mad at myself."

It occurred to him that this was actually worse than being mad at him but she'd already walked away and was saying goodbye to Ephraim, the two seemed to get along quite well. Hopefully she'd be okay, hopefully everyone wouldn't be as mad at her as they were at him also. This was on him.

"Scor!" a very young voice cried abruptly and Scorpius looked around in surprise, a minute later a golden eyed toddler ran into the room but Lysel stopped unhappily in front of him, "Aw, Sol's not here, is he?"

"No, he's not," Scorpius admitted, distracted from thoughts of his brother by curiosity, "How did you know I was here?"

"You smell weird, I _told_ you," Lysel insisted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world while his older sister, Maurene, wandered in with one of her arms in a sling, "Is Sol going to be here soon?"

"Probably not."

"Aw but I really have to tell him something," Lysel said unhappily, hanging his head while behind his parents were entering with Hogan who was complaining Myriam needed to be on bed rest.

"What do you have to tell him?" Scorpius wondered distractedly.

"About the greatestest thing ever I found," Lysel told him, brightening up considerably as the young werewolf grinned and made a dramatic pause, "Rock music."

"Rock music?"

"Yes! It's so cool! And they have the- the guinitars and they sing and it sounds like awesome and-" Lysel informed him, jumping up and down excitedly before turning to Hogan, "Uncle Hogan! Do you have a television?"

"No," Hogan scoffed as if it was a stupid request before glancing at Leebin, "Flan, what's a television?"

"It's a muggle box that plays rock music!"

"And other things," Maurene contributed as Leebin helped his wife to sit on the couch, she was walking a little awkwardly and had her hand on her side while Leebin… Did- Did he have a sword on his hip? "I liked the cartoons."

"But rock music is the besterest!" Lysel insisted excitedly while Scorpius was still distracted by the sword, Leebin had a literal sword on his hip, "That's why I want to tell Sol and how I know what I want to be when I grow up."

"What?" Hogan inquired.

"I wanna be a rock star."

"What? And you're just going to allow this?!" Hogan demanded incredulously of Leebin.

"He's _three_ , Hogan," Leebin pointed out and it occurred to Scorpius that not only did he have a sword but he recognized the handle, it was the Sword of Gryffindor, "Let him be a rock star."

"When you were three you wanted to do nothing with your life too and your parents let you and now you do nothing with your life," Hogan insisted and Leebin sighed tiredly, Myriam shot him a disapproving glare, "It's dangerous allowing that kind of thinking, Flan."

"Come on, we need to have the bedroom ready if you want Myriam on bedrest," Leebin offered, seemingly to distract Hogan which seemed to work as he allowed himself to be led away by his nephew.

"So if you're here, why can't Sol be here?" Lysel whined at him unhappily.

"It just doesn't work like that, sweetie," Myriam said to her son gently and Scorpius was glad to not have to explain it, he was also glad the Leebins didn't seem to hold much ill-will towards him. Maybe everyone wasn't as mad as he thought? "It's up to Sol's parents whether he's here or not, Scorpius is old enough to do his own thing. Though I hope he has at least seen them to let them know he's okay so they don't worry."

"I'm sure it's fine," Scorpius brushed it off, he didn't really want to see his family now, "They'd only try convince me to stay home, it'd only upset them more."

"At least they'd know you're alive."

* * *

Michael Sanford found himself gazing at the liquor cabinet again, the alcohol beckoning him and begging him to break his sobriety, forget how fucked up the world was for just a little bit. He actually found himself wishing he was back in Hogwarts, he hadn't realized how much harder it was to resist the craving eating his mind inside out when it was so much easier to have access to it. Reminding himself people's health depended on him was pretty much the only thought that was managing to push him away these days.

"Hey Michael, what are you going?" a familiar voice inquired pleasantly and Michael's head spun, he surprised to find himself now facing the crimson eyes of his albino friend Orous Knox.

"What are _you_ doing?" Michael countered, his tone harsher then he'd meant but his temper was worn and thin right now, "Aren't you supposed to be home? Unless you're helping with moving to the base but it's not really necessary and you'll probably be in the way more than anything else, there's enough bodies moving around."

"Oh, I know, just um… I really need to talk to Lily about something," Orous explained, looking suddenly nervous and for some reason Michael's first thought was to wonder if he'd gotten her pregnant. That made him think of 'Easton,' which made him think of Rose and now he wanted a drink again.

"About what?" Michael demanded, harshness deliberate this time and Orous looked around briefly as if to make sure she wasn't near.

"Her mum died," Orous told him in a solemn whisper, much to Michael's surprise as he would've thought the Head Auror's wife would've evacuated London. It made him worry for other Weasleys living in London, he knew Freddie did with his girlfriend Caitlin and they had very young children. Freddie's dad lived there too, Roxy lived with him unless she'd gotten her own place already, "I'll tell you more about it later but Lily has a right to know so I need to tell her first."

"Good luck," Michael offered to the extremely nervous looking teen and gestured to the dining room turned sick bay, she was with her older brother Albus.

He leaned back against the wall and sighed sadly as Orous went in to get her, Albus was in no shape to be moved so he'd be staying here which was why Michael himself would be. He was starting to worry, Albus was stable and doing better but the fact he hadn't woken up yet wasn't a good sign. Orous emerged a second later leading Lily by the hand, from the confused look on her face he'd probably asked to speak to her alone and hadn't shared the news yet. Probably good considering Hugo and his parents were in there, they'd also need to be told and would probably have a reaction. Just when he'd thought there was a reprieve from the death of people he knew, his eyes drifted back to the liquor cabinet.

"Do you know what that was all about?" another familiar voice asked and Michael looked up again, this time seeing Abby Longbottom.

"He came to tell her that her mum died," Michael informed her quietly since Lily should know momentarily, her eyes bulged in shock for a second before looking sad.

"That's awful," Abby admitted and Michael could only nod solemnly, "Al's going to be devastated when he wakes up."

"Yeah, he probably will be."

"Oh, hey Michael, what are you doing out here?" his sister's voice said in surprise and he glance to see the eldest of his siblings, Agnes, had rounded the bend.

"I don't need to be in the medical room every second of the day," Michael snapped irritably, fed up of people questioning why he wasn't in there.

"I- I know, I just came to say bye and I thought you'd be in there."

"Well I'm here instead," Michael shrugged it off and unfolded his arms as he turned to her, his family were going to the new base today since unlike him they hadn't much reason to be here.

He wasn't sure how he felt about it, on one hand they were safer but he was sure they were going to more involved in war stuff and teaching Agnes magic despite how ridiculously young she was for it so he very much opposed that. He also worried about Bertie, his nerves were shot to hell and they had to give him Calming Draught more than once so he'd like to keep an eye on him but also being at the base might be better for said anxiety without the media – reports on television, the radio and daily newspaper the Embry's had delivered - about attacks to set him off. Then there was John, telling him to stay away from Crystal seemed to finally be working as they seemed incapable of being in the same room as each other right now but he worried that'd change if he wasn't around. He didn't want her to get hurt again.

"I can wait until you go back," Agnes offered, fidgeting nervously and averting her eye.

"Why? What's wrong with saying goodbye to me here?" Michael countered, crossing his arms again and feeling instantly suspicious. In fact, he was pretty sure the reason behind her strange statement.

"Um… no reason, I just err…"

"You just want an excuse to speak to Hugo, don't you?!" Michael snapped at her, harsher then he'd intended and he saw crimson flooding her cheek as she blushed.

"N- No. Why- Why would I want to do that? It's not like I know him, I don't even remember which one of your friends Hugo is."

"He's the one you keep fawning over! And it's ridiculous!" Michael shouted at her, a part of his mind pleading him for silence but it didn't speak loud enough, "You're far too young for any of this, your behavior is stupid, wrong and a complete waste of time! What the fuck are even are you expecting to accomplish?! He's sixteen years old, you're _ten_ -"

"I'm eleven!" Agnes protested defensively, momentarily looking back to him and looking close to crying."

"-The point is you're just a _child_! He's _never_ going to be interested in you, ever! No one will, you only have half a face!" Michael yelled at his little sister, regretting the words the instant they left his lips and already knowing he'd gone too far. She ran off in tears.

"What the hell, Michael?!" Abby snapped at him, her tone reigniting his anger despite himself, "That was totally uncalled for! Are you trying to destroy her self-esteem?!"

"Whatever it takes to make her snap out of it! She's just a kid!" Michael insisted angrily, even if he'd gone too far he didn't think he was wrong in wanting her to get over it, "Better she gets over it now than when she watches him get torn apart by Inferi!"

"Look, Michael, I get that you're grieving," Abby started and Michael folded his arms crossly, not wanting to talk about it, "But you're not the only one, we've all lost people, we're all hurting right now. I just lost of my little brother and one of my best friends but you don't see me screaming at everyone, you can't be a jerk just because you're hurt. This is the last time we need to be turning on each other, you have to keep it together."

"I'm keeping it together perfectly fine, thank you very much!" Michael snapped defensively and bit down on his tongue to stop himself saying more lest it prove her point, possibly a poor decision as he tasted blood from biting his tongue too hard and she didn't look the slightest bit convinced regardless. He wanted a drink. He probably should go smooth things over with Agnes though, especially if she was leaving for the base soon.

"Hey! Someone!" Hugo's voice called desperately from the medical room.

Michael didn't need to be called twice, he rushed back into the room as did Abby to see what was wrong. Hugo pointed frantically at the bed opposite his, the one holding Albus. Michael turned feeling dread while Abby rushed to his side and grabbed his hand tightly, Albus didn't seem to be distressed though. Quite the opposite, he was stirring.

"Al? Albus, can you hear me?" Abby pleaded desperately, squeezing his hand.

Michael watched with a bubble of hope swelling his heart as Albus' emerald eyes fluttered open, the widest most genuine smile slowly spread across Albus' face as said eyes settled lovingly on Abby. Abby's face very much mirrored his look, except she also blinked back tears of joy or relief. It made him wonder why exactly she was engaged to someone else, someone she hadn't even mentioned once the whole time they'd been there.

"Hey," Albus offered groggily to her while Michael finally crossed the space between them, "You're okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Abby confirmed, her happy expressing tensing a little which was likely at the thought of how she'd just learned his mother was not okay.

"Is… Is Lydia okay?" Albus wondered, referring to his dead cousin's baby who he'd been determined to save in Hogsmeade.

"Lydia's okay," Michael confirmed for him, he'd checked on her just that morning to make sure she was in good health before leaving for the base with her mother.

"How are _you_ doing?" Abby asked of him gently.

"I'm hungry," Albus admitted thoughtfully and despite everything, Michael found himself laughing along with Abby for the first time in far too long.

* * *

"Tell me!" James yelled.

Wyatt felt the still shocking stab of cold water as James shoved his head forcefully back down into the icy liquid, he'd never realized how much freezing water had with knives as it managed to be painful piercing. He felt like his lungs were screaming, he never knew before how badly it physically _hurt_ to be unable to breathe, to be on the brink of death technically. He was sure James knew though, he let him breathe _just_ long enough so that he could drown him again but not enough the discomfort ever stopped. And likewise, _only_ when dark specs started dancing before his eyes did James yank his head back out forcefully and painfully by his hair.

This time though, James actually threw him down onto the ground and Wyatt felt a sliver of relief while he lay there spluttering and gulping air back down into this strangled lungs, his body shaking violent from either cold or the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse he'd endured before the drowning. James launched a kick at him and Wyatt was too breathless to scream in pain as his foot collided with ribs already broken, those probably didn't help with his breathing.

"You don't want to talk still then fine," James told him, grabbing a fistful of hair to force his head back up again so he could speak into his ear and Wyatt feared the smirk twisting his face, "It's been a week, today's your last day of Blood-Replenishing Potion. Then I don't have to go easy on you anymore, and then your _real_ torture begins. Enjoy your last day with flesh."

James threw his head back into the stone so forcefully that Wyatt wasn't entirely sure his skull didn't crack, the world spun a little as James left and slammed the door behind him. Wyatt just lay there weakly in the dark as the cold ate into him, continuing to gasp for air to soothe his burning lungs.

His head was ringing now in addition to… everything else aching from being beat to hell, he was starving – he hadn't been given food once – and stinging from some burns. His eye hurt the most, or rather the socket he'd _used_ to have an eye. It had been days but it still felt raw, even the icy water could only dull it slightly and it felt extremely unnerving and… wrong to suddenly feel water flooding it, dribbling out now.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared right now, he was terrified. He wasn't sure who he was more afraid of though, James and all the horrible things he could do – he had met Leebin – or himself. After all he could end his pain at any time, it would just mean damning Gray. He'd like to say he was strong enough to take the torture and resist no matter what but realistically he couldn't last forever, he didn't think anyone could. He dreaded that day, he felt kind of like he was on a train going somewhere he hated but he couldn't get off.

He felt sick thinking about it and that wasn't including fearing how the other prisoners were doing, unlike him they legitimately didn't know anything so… where was their train going? What would happen to his dad? There was a chance Gray would save them but considering how defensive Hogwarts was even without Inferi – he was pretty sure they were still there – he didn't think it was likely, assuming they even knew he was still in Hogwarts.

Wyatt jolted suddenly in terror at the sound of the door opening so soon, he hadn't realized it but he must've fallen asleep as his lungs had stopped burning for air by now. He picked his head up shakily, not sure if it was to hold on to a shred of dignity or hope looking at him would stop him yanking his hair up. He was surprised to see it wasn't actually James, it was his slave. He felt a rush of relief, he still had time before his next torture session.

"Master James is busy with one of the other prisoners right now so he sent me to give you the last Blood-Replenishing Potion and your water," the boy explained timidly in a slightly accented voice, "I am sorry."

He limped over and Wyatt tried to pull himself into a sitting position while puzzling the apology, the world swim around him but he managed to sit. Barely. The slave crouched by him and looked extremely nervous, he had a water flash slung over his shoulder and picked it up. It was when he opened the lid that Wyatt understood why he'd apologized, there was steam coming from it. Scalding water. Marigold had insisted upon healing him the last time James had done it but somehow he doubted he'd get the same luxury this time with his 'respite' ending, even if he was it didn't matter. It was still agony.

"I am sorry," the teen reiterated as Wyatt's fear must've shown on his face, he looked sincere at least, "Master James insisted I give you this… unless you want to talk."

"No," Wyatt shot it down firmly before he could give it anymore thought, he wasn't there yet.

The slave looked regretful as he held out the flask, Wyatt braced himself although he kept his mouth firmly shut. He was considering trying to overpower the teen even though his hands were shackled and he was weak as fuck right now, he'd also never actually physically overpowered anyone in his life. Rudy was the one with three kick-boxing trophies. The teen raised his arm… And lowered it. He sighed heavily and knelt back, hanging his head as he slowly tipped the contents of the flask onto the stone.

"Whoops. Clumsy me. It appears I spilled the water so it seems I will have to use that other colder water behind you," the boy lied monotonously, getting up and going over to the vat where James had been drowning him earlier to refill the flask with the non-burning water. Wyatt was shocked at the act of compassion, so much so he didn't notice the youth's return until he was offering him the flask, "Drink."

"Thank you," Wyatt offered quietly but genuinely as he took the flask, almost dropping it as it seemed so heavy so the slave had to help hold it and gave no comment on his thanks, "It's Yannis… right?"

"Yes," Yannis confirmed and Wyatt took the opportunity to drink, the liquid actually refreshing when he wasn't being drowned in it.

He also took the chance to study Yannis now he was seeing him in a new light, the youth looked around sixteen or seventeen and might've been handsome if not for the cross scar on his cheek that the Shadows used to mark slaves. He was also shocked to see up close that Yannis was sporting injuries, his face was slightly discolored from a variety of half-healed bruises of varying degrees and his neck outright was badly bruised as if he'd been strangled.

"James is not a kind master, huh?" Wyatt deduced as he finished off the flask, Yannis shook his head.

"He is a sadist, if he wants to hurt me he will. It doesn't matter what I do," Yannis elaborated quietly, avoiding eye contact as he replaced the flask.

"I'm sorry," Wyatt offered with sincerity as Yannis took out the small red vial Blood-Replenishing Potion, "Please help me escape."

"What?!" Yannis burst out in shock, almost dropping the vial. Wyatt didn't blame him, he'd surprised himself with his plea as his mouth was several steps ahead of his brain apparently, "Just because I am not a sadist, it does not mean I'm ready to betray them completely to save a random stranger."

"Please, Yannis, I _need_ to get out of here," Wyatt pleaded with utmost desperation as it dawned on him this was his very last chance, "I'm part of a group fighting the Shadows and if I break the Shadows will kill them all."

"Everybody always breaks eventually."

"Exactly why I need to get away!" Wyatt insisted, fighting back tears and feeling his heartbeat race as the gravity of this opportunity hit him like a wave of freezing water, "You _know_ how bad it is, Yannis, Gray is the _only_ hope of stopping them. And stopping them would save you! Heck, there's a long line of people _within_ Gray who want James dead."

"I don't think anyone can win now," Yannis admitted resignedly, "I lived in Athens, for four years I have only watched them grow stronger and accomplish feat after feat I once would have thought impossible."

"You're right, _maybe_ it is impossible and _maybe_ we can't win but we _won't_ for sure if we don't even try," Wyatt offered and Yannis glanced at him, "Don't you think if there's even a fraction of a chance we should take it with everything we've got? Unless you're really ready to resign yourself to being James' slave for the rest of your life but I think you deserve better than that, you're a good person and I mean that whether you continue to help me or not. They haven't broken you yet, Yannis, don't let them."

"What would I even have to do?" Yannis asked, barely audibly as he swallowed fearfully.

"Not much," Wyatt admitted, afraid to breathe lest he frighten Yannis' mind, "Just walk away. Leave the room with the door open for minute, less than a minute even. Walk to the end of the corridor and back, I'll be gone and you can sound the alarm as soon as you want. All I need is an opening, that's all I need."

Yannis got up without another word, as if thinking about it another second might make him lose his nerve. He strode out of the room, leaving the door wide open behind him. Wyatt didn't need to be told twice.

" _Thank you_ ," Wyatt breathed, every syllable filled with sincerity before he transformed and fled his cell.


	6. IIX: The Inbetween

_**Thanks to:** Cal, Colin Creevey and RandomGerman for reviewing!_

* * *

Wyatt fled, as usual in Hogwarts the rugged stone walls made for great grips to grab onto so he could leap and glide or simply climb. He threw himself from wall to wall in the corridor outside his cell, getting higher and higher each time then he crawled along the ceiling. Below him he was vaguely aware of Yannis who didn't even reach the end of the corridor before he did despite Wyatt not being able to move as fast as he would've liked, he left the corridor and flew to the nearest window now he was out of the dungeon. He squeezed out of the window, the cold wind battering him but the relief of fresh air was too much and he flew down onto a buttress where he had to pause.

He lay there weakly, gasping for breath as pain reignited through his body. Transforming from a fully grown man into a lizard was not the best idea if some of your bones were broken, his ribs were broken even worse now and he could feel both that they were misshapen and digging into his insides. His feet also felt raw, gripping onto stones was not so easy when James had ripped out his nails which translated to a lack of claws as a lizard. His vision was also extremely disconcerting, since humans saw straight ahead he guess it didn't matter so much James took his eye but as a lizard he lost an entire side of his vision.

Though he didn't need both eyes to see the sea of Inferi below, covering every inch of the grounds he could see were the rotting bodies pressed together. He could see why it would be pretty impossible for Gray to help him, it wasn't like you could just walk through them and the second you slipped up you'd have an army of undead tearing you to shreds from every angle. No human could make it by them. As a lizard though he could simply fly, birds were flying over them without issue. If he aimed for the forest he could just tree hop until he was clear of the anti-apparation wards then it was as simple as transforming back and apparating back to Gray or the Embry's if the base really had fallen, he could manage that…

Yet, he didn't find himself moving. Even though he probably should as he was starting to think he needed medical attention, his breathing wasn't getting any easier. How he could he just leave the other prisoners behind? They were innocent, they were being tortured just because associating with Gray made them look suspicious then there were people like Yannis or Marigold or Sebastian. Going would be a lot easier than getting back and the more time passed the worse shape everyone would be in, leaving them behind could be costing them their lives. They didn't deserve that… Even his dad. Whatever issues he had, he didn't want him to die. He was still his dad.

He had to save them, he just wasn't sure how. Maybe… Maybe he could steal them broomsticks for them and they could fly away? Maybe none of the Inferi would look up, there were only _thousands_ of them down there… Wyatt sighed – or tried to, breathing was still difficult – to himself, he wished he was smarter. He was sure anyone else in Gray would've thought of something already, it was probably so obvious too like something that'd have Rudy pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. At any rate he needed medical attention before he could do anything, Marigold should hopefully help him and maybe be willing to help save the others. If he was then great and if not… well he'd worry about that then, he wasn't good at planning at all let alone multiple scenario plans.

Wyatt braced himself and did the best he could to get his bearings with only one eye, knowing the layout helped which he'd of course memorized. The Hospital Wing at least wasn't that far away from his current position either, it did require a bit of scrambling to get higher but he pushed through the pain of it aggravating his feet. It wasn't the worst pain he'd endured lately. He opted not to go into the Hospital Wing though where Antonius' friend still was, instead popping into Marigold's office to ensure they'd be able to have a private conversation and diminish the risk of anyone seeing. Marigold wasn't there unfortunately – in fact the place looked in such disarray he almost wondered if something had happened - so he waited on the windowsill outside out of view of the room, the window itself was open so he could hear when Marigold returned while still being safe and able to flee if necessary. He was somewhat sheltered from the wind at least, though he felt so beat the ledge seemed almost comfy…

"Bloody hell, they didn't have to completely trash my room. Honestly!" a voice complained from inside.

Wyatt's eye snapped open, he hadn't even realize it had closed and found he was now choking on the air as breathing was not easy. He peeked into the room to confirm it was indeed Marigold, the healer was now fixing up the mess in his office and grumbling under his breath. It was now or never and Marigold even had his back to him, Wyatt crawled back inside the open window and transformed back into a human. He gasped in pain as his broken ribs were contorted again, trying to stand but ended up collapsing and heard Marigold shriek in surprise.

"Please help me…" Wyatt choked out, clutching at his ribs and trying to stand back up again.

"What in the world?!" Marigold complained and Wyatt felt the older man hook his arm under his to support him, guiding him towards an entrance not previously there, "Come on, the Shadows are all looking for you- They ransacked my quarters too!"

"Sounds like them…" Wyatt muttered as Marigold led him further into what had to be his quarters, ultimately laying him down on a bed.

"Well I guess on the bright side if they already searched my area they're less likely to do so again so you're safe… somewhat," Marigold mused and took out his wand, waving it over him and Wyatt noticed his face was all beat up, "You know we were trying to get you _off_ Blood-Replenishing Potion not put you back on it because you gave yourself internal bleeding and a punctured lung, at least they're not cursed wounds so it's easy enough to heal."

"What… What happened to you?" Wyatt wondered and groaned in brief pain as his ribs contorted a final time, this time resetting them and healing them.

"James happened. Wanted to make sure I wasn't involved in helping you escape so he tortured me."

"I'm sorry," Wyatt offered guiltily, wondering if James would or had hurt anyone else over his escape, "Did James torture anyone else?"

"Just that poor kid he has for a slave- even after saying he didn't think there was any way a muggle slave could've done anything! He's such a sadistic Shadow fuck! Bastard," Marigold spat as he stopped to wave his wand in the air randomly, the news saddened him but the older man's tone surprised him.

"I didn't realize you were so anti-Shadow," Wyatt admitted curiously and some vials of potion flew into the room, evidently summoned by the Healer.

"Neither did I, turns out sadistic torture really pisses me off," Marigold mused before handing him the potions, "Drink. It'll help with your breathing, the other is Blood-Replenishing Potion."

"Okay," Wyatt agreed and obeyed as Marigold started waving his wand at him, he did find he was breathing a lot easier now and he didn't feel in so much pain.

"So what's your animagus?" Marigold asked out of the blue and Wyatt almost choked on the Blood-Replenishing Potion.

"Ex- Excuse me?"

"Only way you could've contorted your ribs like that is transformation, probably a much smaller critter. Also makes sense how you got out of your cell," Marigold explained, taking the vials from him and twirled his wand away from him again, "I'll patch you up the best I can but then you should _really_ get out of here, its crawling with Shadows and I doubt you'll be able to get away so easily a second time."

"Yeah, I know," Wyatt sighed as another vial floated into the room, he tried to sit up but Marigold pushed him back down gently as he took the vial, "But I… I can't just leave everyone else here to be tortured to death, they're innocent. I thought maybe… between us we could… I don't know, save everyone."

"That's madness," Marigold scoffed, uncorking the vial and glancing at his eye, "Okay, open what's left of your eyelid wide as possible. It'll feel weird and cold but I need to apply this salve, the burns are starting to get infected so I need to nip it in the bud."

"Okay," Wyatt agreed nervously, doing as told and Marigold started to apply the salve to his eye socket. He shuddered both at the thought and temperature, he was right it felt very disconcerting and cold, "So why is my idea madness?"

"Well for starters there are guards, James may not have that many people but he has enough – there's one outside the Hospital Wing right now for crying out loud! They use Specters to check in so word travels fast if anything were to happen to them and something would need to happen to them, the only time they won't be fully staffed is the full moon otherwise-"

"Wait, they won't be here on the full moon?" Wyatt wondered with interest, trying to sit up but Marigold pushed him back down as he was still working with his eye.

"Don't want to risk their precious little lives if anything goes wrong and Sebastian bites anyone, I think there are only going to be one or two max."

"Is Yannis one of those one or two?" Wyatt asked hopefully, he'd _really_ like to repay the boy's kindness by saving him too if possible.

"No, James keeps him pretty close to him and James isn't risking his precious cowardly hide," Marigold grumbled in answer, not the answer Wyatt had wanted unfortunately. There wasn't anything he could do about it though, other lives in more immediate danger were at stake right now. Some other time maybe, if they could survive this first.

"So how is Sebastian doing anyway?"

"As long as I can be with for damage control, he should survive the transformations," Marigold confirmed and Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief, the healer looked saddened though, "After that he should be good, which is also bad. If he survives the night they're shipping him off to the Werewolf Army they've been rebuilding, since werewolves lose their mind and follow an alpha without Wolfsbane… it doesn't matter if he's unwilling. He's more afraid of that then possibly dying, I'm not sure he'll be able to cope with what they'll make him do, even if the war ends in our favor."

"Isn't that all the more reason to escape while we still can?" Wyatt queried as Marigold finally seemed to finish with the salve on his eye, instead moving back to his wand and healing his torn up fingers, "Come on, its perfect. Barely any guards, a werewolf on our side, your inside knowledge and my stealth."

"There's still no way you can just waltz out with everyone, which I would have finished explaining before you so rudely interrupted me."

"Sorry."

"The others are in no condition to move with the exception of Auriga, James only lets me heal people enough to keep them alive so they're in bad shape. Koray and Byron are out of the question, the kid doesn't even legs and Koray's in the worst shape of anyone. Pollux and Grant may manage a little but Grant's still in bad shape, the kid is pretty unhurt but James screwed up his lungs pretty badly a few years ago and he can't cope with much exertion," Marigold explained briskly making Wyatt worry for his dad before the older man threw his arms up in exasperation, sarcasm dropping into his tone, "Oh yeah I almost forget, there's also a freakin' million Inferi standing right outside of the freakin' door!"

"Yeah… that's kind of a problem," Wyatt admitted, trying to wrack his brain as he finally got to sit back up.

"Only ' _kind of'_ a problem?!" Marigold protested incredulously and Wyatt felt his face flush a little as he hung it, he supposed it was a big problem considering the others weren't also winged lizards, "Though I suppose that… _theoretically_ Sebastian _might_ be able to get away, werewolves are pretty fast and even at his age he's going to bigger than Inferi. If he makes a mad dash through them and can shoulder the pain of some of the inevitable wounds they'll manage to inflict on him, maybe he could even carry Auriga or some lighter people. But that's it! And even with that he'll die when he transforms back without my intervention, or another decent Healer I suppose."

Wyatt felt like a light lit up inside his brain.

"You're a genius!" Wyatt blurted out, head shooting up brightly and slapping his fist into his palm, "It's still like a week to the full moon, isn't it? Sebastian hasn't started taking Wolfsbane yet?"

"Not yet…" Marigold confirmed hesitantly, looking completely a loss, "Why don't I check you for head injuries again?"

"No!" Wyatt brushed it off, batting aside the Healer's hand as he went to raise his wand at him again, "Think about it, Marigold! Sebastian's a _werewolf_ , when the full comes around he can bite me-"

" _What?!_ "

"-If you give me Wolfsbane too then I should keep my mind too-"

"I… That's never been tested!"

"-Theoretically it should work though!" Wyatt insisted determinedly while Marigold folded his arms again, "And I'm an _adult_ , I'll be stronger then Sebastian and we should have enough strength between us to carry everyone- including you! So come dawn you can save Sebastian and I'll take us to my people in Gray, everyone will be fine. It's perfect, that way everyone gets out alive."

"Or dies horribly," Marigold complained and Wyatt opened his mouth to object but the healer continued first, "Besides, you're forgetting a massive hole in your plan that makes it downright impossible from the get-go."

"What?!"

"You're an _animagus_ , you can't become a werewolf."

"Ev- Even if I'm not transformed at the time?" Wyatt stammered out, feeling his hope sinking like a rock while Marigold merely shook his head, "Well mayb- maybe one of the others will be willing to-"

"Did you miss the part when I said they're in bad condition?!" Marigold interjected testily, "Or are a child but you'd need a healthy adult and that's assuming anyone like that was even insane enough to damn themselves to a life of lycanthropy for the _one_ time in their lives it's going to be a positive thing in the first place!"

"A healthy adult, huh?" Wyatt repeated thoughtfully and as he looked at the healthy adult standing cross-armed in front of him, it occurred to him who was perfect seemingly in the same instant it did for him.

"Absolutely not!" Marigold shrieked, "I will _not_ become a werewolf!"

"Ah come on, it's perfect!"

"Stop saying everything is perfect! Nothing is perfect! Your whole plan is built on luck and conjecture, it could just as easily lead to everyone dying horribly!"

"They're going to die horribly anyway!" Wyatt protested, based on how they'd treated Leebin and how he was barely okay after being rescued he very much doubted release of those tortured was an option, "Might as well give them the _possibility_ of living and escape, I bet they'd chose that and we can leave anyone who isn't up for it anyway."

" _I'm_ not up to it! I'm sorry but I draw the line at destroying my own life on the off chance your plan won't fail horribly."

"Why do you hate werewolves?"

"I don't!" Marigold insisted, looking rather offended, "I don't hate my other patients either but that doesn't mean I want to be afflicted by their ailments or injuries, I'm not a lunatic."

"Well what's your plan then? Hmm?" Wyatt challenged as he stood, "Just slowly watch innocent people slowly tortured to death?"

"You're a part of Gray, finish escaping and get help."

"If they had a way past the Inferi they probably would've done it already, getting through a mass of Inferi is just as difficult for them as it is for us. Except for them, they have to not only get in but get out _with_ extra people so it's even worse and if I leave we lose whatever edge and chance we have of saving them. You've said yourself the others are in bad shape, at best it'd probably take Gray more time then they have and you also said yourself Sebastian will be taken away after the next full moon. My plan is the _only_ way," Wyatt explained, feeling more and more confident in his argument. Not blindly confident though, he still knew he wasn't good at this, "Unless you can think of something better or are fine with damning innocents to death."

"When did it become my fault?" Marigold complained, moving away from him in exasperation, "I don't think wanting to still be able to have a life like the others should be too much to ask, becoming a werewolf would be like committing suicide and there's things I still want to do in my life."

"Like _what_?" Wyatt wondered incredulously, not thinking of anything he wouldn't still able to do as a werewolf unless all his life goals revolved around being human during the full moon.

"I- I'd like to see more of the world… when it's not so… erm… destroyed. Also, to get over my fear of traveling to see said world," Marigold stammered out, seemingly taken off-guard at being put on the spot or maybe it was embarrassment, his expression wasn't the easiest to read all when he was so beat up, "I want to finally be respected and… and to… to finally fall in love, I hear forty-five is the new twenty-five. Maybe start a family…"

"And you can't have those things as a werewolf?" Wyatt wondered, feeling pretty sure werewolves were perfectly capable of those things.

"Of course I can't!" Marigold snapped at him irritably, "You don't think I get enough hate for _existing_ with a name like 'Marigold?!' Or being the one kid branded a ' _freak_ ' in Muggle School because weird stuff _always_ happens around me and me alone?! Or being despised by my own house in Hogwarts because I was the only ' _mudblood_ ' in Slytherin?! Or still being hated outside of school and being passed over time and time again for any sliver of a promotion no matter how hard you work just because Slytherins are ' _cowards_ ' now and evil because of _one_ bad guy and his followers – not all of whom even were Slytherin! – regardless that they also wanted _me_ dead?! Or _still_ being hated back in school just because you're replacing such a well-loved long standing staff member of Hogwarts even though it's hardly my fault she wanted to retire – which is a perfectly reasonable request and right that people have! – in her old age?! _And you want to add lycanthropy – a terrible, painful, life-changing condition - on top of all that?!_ My life will be over!"

"I think you're being slightly overdramatic."

"I think you're being quite underdramatic!"

"That's not even a word!"

"That's beside the point!"

"Marigold?" a small voice questioned.

Wyatt immediately transformed and dived behind an overturned box on the table at the end of the bed, despite recognizing the voice he wanted to be cautious. He peered around the box using his good eye and sure enough, saw the familiar mop of honey-colored hair as the small First Year werewolf Sebastian Libra wandering weakly into the room. He wore a look of concern and seemed much paler then Wyatt remembered, or maybe it was just the new black bags under his eyes made the contrast more noticeable.

"What are you doing out of bed?!" Marigold demanded of him, hurrying over and casting his wand over him quickly as if to make sure he was okay, "You need to rest."

"I'm sorry," Sebastian apologized guiltily, averting his eyes nervously while Marigold kneeled to be closer to his chest which was where he'd been injured, "You said you'd only be a minute so I got worried, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Marigold said more gently and lowered his wand, seemingly satisfied with the boy's health for the moment, "You just have to remember to put _your_ health first."

"How is your health? You look hurt and then you didn't come back," Sebastian wondered with concern.

"I'll survive, don't worry about me," Marigold brushed it off and put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, prompting Sebastian to actually meet his eyes, "Come on, we should get you back to bed. You need to be resting and _try_ to sleep, okay? I can't give you a Sleeping Draught with the other potions you're on."

"I'm sorry," Sebastian apologized again, averting his sorrowful gaze again, "It's hard to sleep."

"I know but you need your strength," Marigold urged him also in a tone of concern as he got to his feet, starting to guide Sebastian back and their voices faded out as they got further away.

Wyatt could do nothing more than wait, for the first time in what felt like a long time he wasn't waiting in excruciating pain though the loss of vision continued to unnerve him as a lizard. He figured Marigold would have to come back eventually to carry on their discussion, Wyatt used the time to try think of a less life-altering plan but he was drawing blanks. After about an hour or so, the Head Healer returned.

"You still around? I need to finish healing your more minor injuries," Marigold offered, sounding utterly defeated. Wyatt heard him heave a heavy sigh, "And… And you win, I was being selfish. I'll do it, I'll become a werewolf and we can try save the others."

* * *

Six year old Vathan Lestrange opened his eyes tiredly, seeing darkness was still all around him. It wasn't day yet, something else had awoken him in the middle of the night. He hadn't woken from a bad dream at least which he was glad for, it wasn't like Brutus was around to comfort him anymore. He sighed, sorrow swelling in his heart at the thought.

Brutus was gone. He didn't know where he was or if he'd even survived what had happened, the not-knowing was the worst. It left too scared to hope but too hopeful to despair, he didn't know how you were supposed to feel when you didn't know what had even happened and you were just stuck in conflicted limbo. He was unfortunately used to the feeling with his brother Oathan but now the both of their fates were unknown, same went for poor little Omega. The only difference was the person who'd supported him through it was now part of the problem, based on things he'd said before vanishing and what Sal had said he wasn't sure he'd ever see him again even if he was alive. He didn't understand. He just didn't understand.

Vathan sighed sadly once more, it really didn't help he was incapable of doing anything to take his mind off it. He was bedridden, recovering from a broken spine so his thoughts hadn't much else to do besides torture him. It was also why he couldn't sit up to investigate the cause of his awakening, the Healers had made it pretty clear he needed to stay lying flat or it'd mess up the magic and he'd take even longer to heal. It was taking so long anyway though that Vathan wondered how much worse it could possibly be.

He turned his head of dark hair which had a slight wave to it, spotting a person in the room not previously there. Sal Riddle, the Shadow Master she wasn't there for him. In the bed beside him lay Lazarus, her and Brutus' other son. He was barely alive, Vathan had heard a lot of words like 'critical condition' being said by the Healers about how he was doing lately and seen Sal burn a lot of people alive accidently in anger because he was still not better when she returned, then stuff would blow up because she was mad that they were dead. Stuff like that was why she scared him sometimes.

She wasn't doing anything scary right now though, she was just cradling Lazarus in her arms gently. Lazarus had yet to wake up. Vathan desperately wished he would, he did care a lot about the toddler and wanted him to be okay. He felt like they could all do with some good news right now too, maybe if he did then Brutus would hear about it if he was alive and come back with the others and they could all be a family again.

That didn't happen though. Sal just stayed for a long while, holding her son. Only when daylight started to touch the sky did she lay him back down, tucking him comfortably back into his blankets and planting a kiss on his forehead with a look of love. Lazarus didn't even stir, eyes remaining firmly shut. She stepped back, wiping tears he hadn't noticed from her eyes. Upon lowering her hand, her angry expression had returned and she vanished into the darkness once more. Vathan thought that was one good thing, he sure was glad to not be one of her enemies right now. Those people were screwed.


	7. IIX: Struggling

_**Thanks to:** RandomGerman, SiriusSunday, ChakraKitty, Colin Creevey, pallasannabeth and Guest for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Will qe hear or see anything more from madam Maxime?_**  
 _In a word... maybe_

 ** _Am I right in thinking this takes place in the week when the full moon comes up?_**  
 _Last chapter took place just over a week before the full moon, this chapter takes place in between_

 ** _Have u had my published?_**  
 _No I haven't but I would like to one day, I have original ideas too_

 ** _Who's still alive in this book?_**  
 _You're going to have to be more specific because I have a lot of characters, it'd take forever to list them all_

 _ **Author's Note:** Okay, I know I haven't updated in forever and I don't usually like to explain why things take long just because I feel like no one cares and it just comes across like I'm making excuses but its been two months and I feel I owe it for anyone who was concerned. So for starters I have just been busy I am in college and as much as I hate it right now I'm close to finishing so I just need to do it and secondly... honestly I just haven't felt motivated. When I sit down to write I just start to feel really stressed and pressured about it being the last book and wanting it to be good then I can't focus much and I barely get anything written, this chapter was written in like sentences at a time which also then makes me worry it seems really disjointed and... its not fun, I haven't hated writing this much since book 4. But don't freak out I'm not abandoning this series, I did get this chapter done in the end albeit just more slowly and that brings me to the last reason it took so long: this chapter is long. Its 9000 words, usually I try to split chapters this long but it didn't seem right to do it with this one and longer chapters naturally take longer to write just in general. So for anyone wondering, that's why it took so long. I'm sorry, I don't like it to take long either. You'll just have to bear with me until I get out of this slump I'm afraid, I'm doing the best I can and I thank everyone still reading for your patience and continued interest in the series. Hopefully next chapter will be better  
_

* * *

Molly Weasley lay on her bed, comfortably resting on her side and feeling kind of awake for once. She was sleeping a lot these days, Hogan encouraged it for healing purposes and had her take Sleeping Draughts regularly to ensure this. She hadn't been keen on using that to sleep at first but she warmed up to it, sleeping without it she found time passed more restlessly and she woke frequently even without bad dreams whereas the potion gave a long dreamless sleep she always woke feeling well-rested from. Drowsiness was also a side effect on the pain potions she was on, made her feel kind of sluggish but after months of torture she'd take it. It was just nice not being in pain all of the time.

She was feeling better in general, slowly starting to feel more human as her body healed. Though she still wasn't doing anything productive, Hogan insisted it was better in the long run to just allow herself the time to recover. She didn't doubt him but as bad as it made her feel, she really just didn't feel up to doing anything. She'd been through too much recently and she needed a break to think, for her own sanity even because she was still seeing things, visions or hallucinations or what she didn't know… it was kind of concerning.

Though none of that was on her mind today, Oathan had been moved into her room with the shifting of Gray people. Not the powerful adult Oathan of her visions but the little five year old boy battling for his life, each weak breath drawn from his unconscious body coming out as a pained and disjointed rattle. She gazed out at him lying across from her, struggling just to rasp for breath. It was surreal seeing him in real life, he was so small, so fragile. Just the single bed seemed massive for such a tiny body, crimson hair was spread across the pillow his skeletal head was sunken into and etched across the far side of his face was the intricate scar that had been built up already.

He wasn't doing so good, Hogan tended to him frequently and this state seemed the best he could accomplish regardless how much he poured over the boy as he fought to keep him alive. Oathan – the adult vision/hallucination one, the child had yet to waken – had said he'd be dead if not for Hogan, he was barely holding on. It was so strange to her that the fate of the world potentially rested with the small child struggling to hold on over there, kept alive by a grouchy damaged Healer. She thought Hogan was alright actually, he'd been good to her- Molly was jolted abruptly from her thoughts as she heard a knock on the door.

"H- Hello?" Molly called out nervously, Hogan didn't usually knock – with Oathan he often rushed in because something was wrong - and she didn't feel much like talking to Scorpius. The better she felt the harder it was to relax around him like nothing was wrong.

"H- Hey Molly," a familiar voice belonging to neither Hogan nor Scorpius called. Flannery Leebin, she was more than happy to talk to the former psychologist, "May I come in? I brought soup."

"Yes," Molly agreed readily, sitting up as Flan entered and somehow managed to simultaneously look both the same and different since the last time she'd seen him.

He still had the same short reddish-brown hair kind of spiked naturally and striking cyan colored eyes, then there were the scars. His hands were mutilated, both from the variety of overlapping scars scoring every inch and from some fingers partially or fully amputated, then his ears were jagged from slivers being cut out. They were horrific but she'd long since gotten accustomed to them, which was why it was strange they stood out to her so much now they almost seemed different. Probably because she'd endured similar torture, Hogan had said she wouldn't be bad as her captors hadn't been as sadistic as her cousin nor as stingy on healing but… she would have scars, she was also down two fingers. Flan also had a sword around his waist she had started seeing on Oathan – the future one – and something different in how he carried himself, something akin to confidence maybe.

"Here," Flan said, holding the bowl out to her as he'd crossed the distance between them while she'd been thinking, "Chicken vegetable."

"Thanks," Molly offered as she took it, the pleasant aroma reaching her nostrils as she did so. Not that that she was picky after months of torture but it smelled especially good, so familiarly good in fact she was pretty sure Flan's wife had made it. Myriam was a former chef and it showed whenever she'd cooked at the base, "It smells great."

"Myriam's cooking usually does," Flan confirmed her suspicions with a sheepish smile that immediately faded, his expression shifting to guilt which confused her only for a moment before she remembered his magical outburst had ultimately led to her capture, "I um… I want to apologize, I'm sorr-"

"You don't need to apologize, I don't blame you for anything," Molly cut him off quickly and truthfully, "One's the thing that caused it all then left me to be taken, if I blame anyone it's that. Or myself for knowing what would probably happen and not doing anything."

"You shouldn't blame yourself, seeing the future doesn't make you omnipotent."

"I suppose," Molly conceded, putting the bowl aside for a moment and moving a bit more to the left so Flan could sit beside her while she wracked her mind for the most pressing thing she wished to ask him, "How's Scorpius?"

"Scorpius?" Flan echoed in surprise as he sat on the edge of her bed in the space she'd made for him, "I only just got here so I haven't seen much of him to say. Why do you ask?"

"Because something's still off with him… I don't know what but it worries me."

"Well… I'll keep an eye on him," Flan assured her and she nodded in acknowledgement, feeling as if a he'd taken a weight off her shoulders. Albeit a small weight, only one of the many burdening her.

"Thank you. So… how's everyone else doing?"

"They're okay. Everyone's recovering and on the mend at this point anyway, mostly eager to be active again. People send their well wishes in fact, like Latimer, Roman, Ron-"

"They're not mad at me for betraying everyone and getting the base and everyone dying?" Molly wondered in surprise, realizing her tone gave away how much this had her worried.

"Of course they're not, no one blames you," Flan reassured her, sounding sincere, "And you shouldn't blame yourself either."

"What makes you think I do?"

"The way you said that last sentence, how you think others perceive you comes across a projection of the guilt you feel yourself," Flan reeled off, his psychologist background shining through, "But you have nothing to feel guilt over, there's just only so much humans can take. You shouldn't beat yourself up over being human."

"Maybe, I still feel horrible," Molly admitted, averting her eyes guiltily, "I betrayed everyone to save my sister, who was secretly a Shadow and it got people killed. You were right, that vision of Lucy _was_ telling me it was too late to save her but I didn't listen because I didn't want it to be true."

"Its human nature to not want to be helpless, we're so desperate our minds will delude us into thinking we have more power than we do so we end up blaming ourselves for things and situations that in reality were out of our hands rather than just accepting we were helpless. Seeing the future – which are only potential futures anyway - doesn't change that, especially not an obscure vision."

"Maybe," Molly reiterated, opening and closing her mouth. Elaborating on her guilt meant going into more details then she felt up to talking about right now, "I'm sorry, I'm not ready to talk about this stuff."

"Hey, that's fine," Flan assured her quickly, holding up his hands as if innocent, "I wasn't trying to pressure you, I just wanted to see how you were doing and apologize."

"I know, thank you. It's nice to see a familiar face that's not flickering, be around people again."

"Well that's good because Latimer hopes to visit you soon," Flan told her and Molly smiled at the thought of seeing more of her friends, as well as relief to not be as hated as she feared. Not that she'd blame them, "I promise you it gets better. Probably not today or tomorrow, maybe not even 'soon' but _eventually_ it starts to get better. You have people who care about you or even love you, who want to support you and help you through this. You don't have to talk about anything for them to be there, you're not as alone as you feel."

"Thank you," Molly offered, hugging him gently as she appreciated the attempt to make her feel better and knew there was some truth to it.

" _Until everyone dies_ ," she heard Oathan's voice in her mind, " _Should Scorpius' window close with darkness still reigning, he will not survive and so many will go down with him_."

"Actually there was something I wanted to ask you about," Molly said quickly as she pulled away, cutting off whatever Flan had been starting to say, "When… When I was a prisoner I stared… well I started hallucinating."

"Well… that's not unusual," Flan admitted slowly, fidgeting a little uncomfortably, "I mean many things can cause hallucinations but the extreme stress of every kind the whole ordeal puts you through… it's understandable. I… I hallucinated when I was urm… you know."

"I know but… it's _still_ happening to me," Molly explained, making him raise an eyebrow slightly, "And I think it's linked to my being a Seer, mostly they're to do with the future and I know this has to be true some of the time at least as my hallucination helped during the escape."

"I suppose it's possible," Flan conceded thoughtfully, "I mean, I haven't heard of it before but Seers aren't that common anyway and the magical world is positively _abysmal_ at looking into anything psychological. There is of course a link between magic and the mind though, that at least is common knowledge and there's no reason to think your Seer ability couldn't be bleeding into your regular life."

"So how do I stop it?" Molly asked pleadingly, "As much as I want to use my ability to help, I'm really scared for my sanity. I need to be able to tell the difference between what's real and what's just a vision."

"Well, like I said there are many things that can cause hallucinations so how to treat them varies depending on the cause. I'd guess preliminarily its most likely a result of the trauma you've been through and are still recovering from, which actually would be good as it would mean them 'stopping' would be a natural progression as part of your recovery and we could work on managing them in the meantime," Flan told her which somehow she'd expected him to say but was still somewhat disappointed, for once she'd like just a simple answer like a potion or a spell even if it would require multiple uses or something. It could be worse, she was scared of it being permanent.

"It's not permanent though, right?"

"Depends on the cause so I can't say for sure, though things can _usually_ be done to manage it. This is new territory though and this is just my _guess_ at a glance, it's _not_ a thorough psychological evaluation by any means and I'm in no fit state to be giving such a thing so bear that in mind."

"Okay," Molly nodded in understanding, opening her mouth before changing her mind and closing it. They didn't have to get into it now and the soup did smell great, she had a basic answer anyway. She picked the bowl back up and tried the soup, "You were right, it tastes great."

"I'm sure Myriam will be glad to hear it, I look forward to mine later too… just got to wait for it to cool," Flan said with a smile that turned a tad sad while his eyes drifted to her new roommate, he couldn't ingest hot things without panicking and blowing something up, "So that's the famed Oathan, huh?"

"Yeah," Molly confirmed after swallowing the mouthful of soup, resisting the urge to specify child-Oathan since Flan didn't keep seeing adult-Oathan, "The one who'll end the war."

"Only if Scorpius fails," Flan pointed out and Molly bit her tongue, she didn't feel like getting into it now but she was pretty sure Scorpius wouldn't win now. Oathan had said it was as likely as her escape and she'd failed that – spectacularly – and the fact she kept seeing his future self, then Hogwarts had fallen… "If he even lives, Hogan isn't sure he'll make it. He's in bad shape and he's very fragile, almost hard to imagine him capable of ending Sal. Poor kid."

"Hogan's a pessimist," Molly brushed it off dismissively though glad to be distracted from her depressing line of thought, instead she went back to her soup, "Of course he's going to be critical but he underestimates himself, he'll ensure Oathan's survival. He's weak now but he'll recover in time, he'll be capable of ending anyone eventually."

" _Too bad it'll be too late to save anyone you care about_ ," future-Oathan's voice warned.

* * *

Scorpius headed into the kitchen for breakfast the next day, finding Leebin and his daughter Maurene already there. He couldn't help but notice they were still in pajamas just like when he'd stayed with the Weasleys, were his family really the only ones that wouldn't go to breakfast until they were already completely dressed, washed and presentable?

"Okay, I'll brush my teeth, Daddy," Maurene said begrudgingly and passed by Scorpius as she left, with a pang he was reminded of Cassia. He wondered how she and Antonius were doing with Professor Ashain being dead, hopefully they were holding up alright. For that matter, how was Brutus because Scorpius still wanted to talk to him. Whenever he had a chance to green light it with Varanian, wherever he was. Hopefully the Ashains were dealing with their grief better then Varanian, he was pretty sure he wasn't doing good.

"Good morning Scorpius," Leebin greeted him pleasantly as Scorpius continued over to the counter where the older man was making porridge, his pajamas also considered of checked bottoms and only a white t-shirt which made the numerous layers of horrific scarring that James had inflicted visible. It made him worry about Molly.

"Good morning," Scorpius offered in turn and Leebin gave a friendly smile in response, surprising him.

"How are you?"

"You don't hate me for what I did?" Scorpius questioned as he started to prepare some cereal, hopefully before Hogan walked in… Hogan had weird breakfast policies.

"Hate's a very strong word, it takes a lot to make me hate someone and I can count on one hand- yes, even with the limited fingers I have- how many people I truly hate, it has to be personal and irredeemable in my eyes. You're not even in the vicinity of hate, I don't even dislike you and I know your intentions were not malicious. The hate for you isn't as bad as you fear, it's just more vocal… as is often the case."

"Well… thank you," Scorpius offered as they continued making their breakfasts, though he supposed since Leebin's family survived it probably wouldn't bother him as much and he even had a sword now, "By the way, how _did_ you get the sword of Gryffindor? Weren't you a Ravenclaw?"

"Oh, Albus gave it to me," Leebin brushed it aside while Scorpius started eating his cereal, Leebin just put the porridge to the side. This only raised more questions though and made him worry about how his friend was doing.

"Oh, well then how did Albus get the sword?"

"I don't know, didn't ask at the time and then he's been injured," Leebin shrugged, his gaze drifting to the sword worriedly for a second, "Pretty sure we'd be dead without it, it cleaves Inferi to ash and even then we barely made it through the horde. I've been practicing with it since I think it could still come in handy and if I can't do magic I can do that, and yes I _was_ a Ravenclaw but I haven't burst into flames for using it so far so..."

"You must still have enough courage for it I guess."

"I doubt it," Leebin scoffed, reminding Scorpius of his own house insecurities, "It probably just doesn't care anymore, if it ever did. I'm not sure the full scope of its properties were ever fully revealed-"

"Scorpius, what are you doing!" Hogan demanded as he stormed in, Scorpius groaned as the bowl of cereal was snatched from him, "This is _breakfast_ , for breakfast you have to have _porridge_. How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"I don't even like porridge!" Scorpius insisted incredulously, this was the same argument they had every morning Hogan caught him.

"Neither do I but we still have to eat porridge for breakfast!"

"But- But then _why_?!" Scorpius spluttered out in exasperation.

"Because that's the rules."

"The rules of _what_?! Who even invented such a ridiculous rule?!"

"I- I don't know," Hogan admitted a little flustered, "The- The orphanage people-"

" _What?!"_

"Hogan-"

"Flan, you know it's the rule!" Hogan snapped at his nephew, turning on him immediately angry, "Porridge is for breakfast, you _know_ this and he's having cereal but its _porridge_ you have to have for breakf-"

"I do know this but you see, Scorpius isn't _not_ eating porridge for breakfast," Leebin randomly decided, earning a suspicious look from Hogan that Scorpius had to share since he didn't know how an obvious lie would help. Leebin slid one of the bowls of porridge he'd finished making towards Scorpius, "He's just having porridge _with_ cereal on the side to offset the taste, just like you do. No rule against that, is there?"

"Well… _no_ ," Hogan begrudgingly admitted, continuing to scowl though his anger diminished, "But he still has to eat the porridge as _well_ as the cereal."

"Of course and he shall, right Scorpius?"

"Absolutely," Scorpius lied in relief at this seeming loophole in Hogan's logic, the old Healer scowled at him suspiciously then at the door.

"Well okay," Hogan conceded finally and gave him back the cereal, "I have to go check on Oathan though so just… just make sure he eats it, Flan."

"I will," Leebin assured him and Hogan nodded, finally seeming satisfied as he trudged off.

" _Thank you_ ," Scorpius breathed in grateful relief, "He's been driving me crazy with that."

"He can't help it, his mind's a little scrambled so you just have to work with him not against him."

"I brushed my teeth, Daddy!" Maurene exclaimed excitedly as she ran back into the room, grinning at her father with her teeth clenched as if to prove it.

"Very nice, that's my girl," Leebin praised her and promptly handed her the bowl of porridge Hogan had wanted Scorpius to eat.

"Thanks, Daddy."

Leebin – and Myriam for that matter - did seem to have a good relationship with his children, Scorpius noticed over the following week. True to his word he spent a lot of his time outside practicing with the sword and his children would often go watch him, cheering him on or he'd be inside helping them with their homeschooling. It was also the week before the full moon and Lysel took a turn for the worse fast, his energetic singing quickly was silenced and instead he'd sleep a lot bundled up in blankets to be near them and have to take even more potions. Leebin would often sit with him, cuddling him and chatting to him – often telling stories - to keep his spirits up. In fact, considering their home had been destroyed by Inferi, Maurene had an injured arm from the ordeal and Lysel suffered from life-threatening lycanthropy, they were actually surprisingly happy and well-adjusted kids.

Scorpius actually ended up spending a fair amount of time with them, especially as the week wore on when Lysel needed more care and Myriam was also a werewolf so afflicted by weakness before the full moon, albeit not to the same severity as her son. So he'd also help Maurene with her work, which included spells despite her being only eight. Unlike Michael, the Leebins seemed subscribed to the idea that since she was willing and able it was best she knew some magic just in case even if they hoped she'd never have to use it. Scorpius agreed with this and didn't really get why Michael hated his sister – who was actually older then Maurene and whose magic had actually helped when the base was attacked - learning magic, he wondered if Michael was still mad at him. Maurene was nice enough, smart kid and unlike her brother did not complain about how he apparently smelled.

"Why do you smell _wrong_?" Lysel continued to complain at him, "Sol doesn't, everyone doesn't- the _dead_ doesn't smell wrong like you."

"I don't know, Lysel," Scorpius sighed.

He really wasn't sure what his problem was, he had technically died but Lysel had complained about it before that, he considered it might be because of his being an animagus but then he'd been one before Lysel had started complaining. The only other thing he could think of was it being because of Calderon's soul being attached to his, soul level stuff could be why Lysel considered it 'wrong' but he didn't know. Regardless, the toddler did remind him of and make him miss his own brother who people continued encouraging him to see. This was why he decided he would see them, just after the full moon because he wanted to be there. After the full moon things would hopefully look up for everyone – Lamb also was a werewolf after all thus afflicted by the same weakness as half the Leebins – and Hogan said after that Molly's feet should be healed enough for her to get back on them, she had been a bit more social – Leebin also visited her – but still not being bedridden would be good for her.

One more major thing happened that week, in the dead of night Scorpius was startled awake by the sound of the front door. He went for his wand but Hogan was already out into the corridor, Scorpius had no doubt because he was such a ridiculously light sleeper the footsteps of someone approaching him had awoken him. Lamb didn't wake but Scorpius didn't expect him to, he was pretty wiped from the upcoming full moon. Scorpius hurried out after the old Healer, not sure who he'd expected but he was surprised.

"Varanian!" Scorpius exclaimed and lowered his wand as he recognized their leader, joy at seeing him soon turning to concern as he noticed Varanian was injured, "You're hurt!"

"How observant of you, not like any of us have working eyes," Hogan shot out sarcastically, already helping Varanian down the corridor, "Fucking idiot."

"What happened?" Scorpius asked instead, deciding to just ignore Hogan as he sat Varanian down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Just got too close to the Inferi," Varanian muttered in response, moving him as arm away from his chest so Hogan could look at the wounds.

"That was stupid," Hogan criticized him bluntly, waving his wand over the wounds and examining them, "Why were you even around Inferi?"

The wounds looked pretty nasty, he had several bloody gashes across his right shoulder and his chest closest to it. In fact, in general Varanian looked rough. The burn scars he usually hid using his metamorphmagi power were fully visible, threads of gray now spiraled through his scruffy tawny hair and he looked like he'd aged a decade even without that. His lips were cracked and thick black bags clung under his eyes, the way his whole body including his hanging head was slumped only contributed to how he seemed to exude exhaustion. He gripped the counter with one hand and Scorpius wasn't entirely unsure it was the only thing keeping him upright, the one thing stopping his fatigued body from dropping.

"Wyatt. Hogwarts has stripped down the number of Shadows- like enough we could easily take them down but there's the Inferi everywhere- still everywhere, I mean, it was like that from when it fell but they're still everywhere so I was exper- trying to figure a way through- to get through to- I mean, get through them since they're really the main issue in the way of the- I mean saving Wyatt because we have to- we have to save him- our people, we need to save them and there's Inferi every- wait yeah, I said that already," Varanian rambled off in reply without looking up, sounding unusually unfocused and disjointed. Hogan looked away from the wounds long enough to exchange a concerned look with Scorpius, "They're in Hogsmeade too so that's- I mean the passageway is blocked even if it's not blocked- I mean blocked by them even if it's not caved in or whatever and they'll attack you if they see you but they seem to have a set range- place to stay and they won't follow you beyond a certain point- It's kind of a big problem in getting people out of there- I mean if we can get in its easier but with them to get out it's not easy to get out, wait did I just say that-"

"Varanian, when was the last time you slept?" Scorpius interjected and Varanian finally raised his head to look at him, showing he had one silvery gray eye and one icy blue one but that wasn't even the main issue. Both eyes were red from tiredness , plus he kept blinking unevenly and at odd intervals as if he was fighting to keep them open.

"I- I don't know, when Annie was still alive."

"That was weeks ago!"

"Well I have more important things to do then sleep, I have to save Wyatt and then there's Jack/One who's only helping us for splitting them but we know now it'll kill Jack at least- Oh yeah and we find some way to kill a pissed off all-powerful apparently immortal- We _need_ some way to know when she shows up so I've been trying to make some kind of spell to register when she does, kind of like the Trace but to pick up her and I know it's for kids but I think something can be done to detect power of her magnitude so we can fight her-" Varanian descended into another ramble, this time cutting himself off as he almost fell but Scorpius and Hogan quickly grabbed him to steady him, Varanian was trembling.

"Out of curiosity, when was the last time you ate?" Hogan queried as Varanian shakily gripped the counter again.

"When Annie was alive…"

"Okay, you need to eat. Right now," Scorpius decided determinedly and lit up his wand, grabbing whatever from the cabinets that was quick to assemble into something edible.

"I need to get some potions, I'll be back in a moment," Hogan also added, heading off while Scorpius put together a sandwich and brought it over to Varanian.

"Eat," Scorpius demanded of the man still fighting to keep his eyes open as he dropped the plate in front of him. He half-expected him to argue but Varanian seemingly recognized his body needed food to survive, he shakily picked up a slice and started nibbling on the corner. Scorpius let out a relieved breath, "You need to take care of yourself."

"I need to think of something."

"You're not going to think of anything while you can barely string a coherent sentence together!" Scorpius insisted determinedly as Varanian really started to devour the sandwich as if he hadn't realized how hungry he was until he'd started to eat, "We knew the situation before-"

"Before the country wasn't under attack! We had time then, we don't now- There's no time to take things slow and think of something anymore."

"We still have time, she's not even taking cities just attacking them! And you're not going to think of anything like this, you need to sleep," Scorpius reiterated as Varanian finished off the sandwich, licking the crumbs off his fingers before sighing heavily.

"I can't sleep," Varanian admitted after a second, so under his breath it was barely audible and while not on Scorpius, his eyes stopped fighting to close, "Every time I lie down it just reminds me that she's not there beside me… I can't cope with that."

"Varanian…" Scorpius started to say and realized he absolutely no idea what to say to that, anything encouraging he could think to say sounded like a lie. Varanian's broken mismatched eyes slowly shifted to him and Scorpius had to close his mouth, instead he pitifully tried to pat his arm comfortingly.

"Thanks," Varanian muttered and his eyes drifted further to Scorpius' hand, widening slightly, "Hey, give me that."

"Give you what?" Scorpius wondered in confusion, glancing at his unscarred hand.

"My ring," Varanian elaborated and Scorpius looked at the rings upon his fingers, one a silver Thestral ring that Calderon had given him as a present while beneath it was a simple golden band that doubled as a Portkey and communicator which Varanian had given to him. Varanian held out his own horribly burned hand, "Give it back."

"Wh- Why?" Scorpius stammered out in surprise, pulling his hand back protectively. He was used to wearing it, he never took it off.

"I want it back. What's the point in it now you're here anyway?"

"I- I erm…" Scorpius continued to be flustered, finding an answer eluding him. Begrudgingly he took it off, feeling naked without it and glanced at Varanian who held his hand out to him again, seemingly determined to have it back now and his own attachment to an item loaned to him was not a valid reason to hold on to it. He dropped it into Varanian's palm, hoping he just wanted to rejig the enchantments or something before returning it.

"Okay, I'm back," Hogan announced almost cheerfully as he returning holding several vials of potions that he set down on the counter while Varanian pocketed the ring, "Here, drink. Then take the red one."

Hogan handed Varanian one of the vials, not even waiting for him to drink it before conjuring a cloth to pour another of the vials onto which he then started applying to the wounds. Scorpius couldn't do much else but watch since he knew nothing of healing, he considered making Varanian more food but eating it would be awkward when Hogan was actively treating him. Treating him in his pajamas, Scorpius noticed as he was accustomated to seeing the older man in his lime green Healer robes but they had jumped out of bed for this. Hogan actually wore long plaid bottoms and a white t-shirt just like Leebin did, showing off bony arms that had surprisingly several scars.

"Wh- What's going- going on?" Lamb wondered sleepily as he wondered into the kitchen with his blanket wrapped around him as best he could when his wrist was twirling uncontrollably, he looked about as ready to drop as Varanian and suppressed a yawn, "Th- There was noise."

"It's nothing, you can go back to sleep," Scorpius assured him.

"Oh ok- okay," Lamb mumbled and nodded his head a few times before shuffling away.

He couldn't wait for this full moon to pass already and people could be healthy again, it also wasn't good if the Shadows attacked or anything while the Gray werewolves were weakened and vulnerable. There were more at the base since Michael would also be down, Hugo too. He wondered what the plan was for that, they'd been taking Wolfsbane since they had been stocking potions but he didn't know whether they stayed in their rooms or together somewhere or what. It was actually finally the perfect time that he could spend the moon will Michael to support him… except Michael was probably still mad at him.

"Can't you do anything for that guy's wrist?" Varanian questioned and yawned as Scorpius turned his attention back to them, "I mean he's not- he's not gonna be good in an attack with the- he can't wand good- spells need wrist movements. You know what I mean."

"Well from the looks of it his nerves already healed wrong so the best you could do is destroy them and regrow them," Hogan answered distractedly, still very much focused on his healing, "Aside from being excruciating painful, it's very risky and due to how important it is to keep the limb as still as possible the middle of the war would not be the best time to perform said treatment so I wouldn't recommend it. Not that I've examined him nor was he my patient but that's my guess from what I've observed."

"You didn't think to examine him?" Scorpius wondered, frowning slightly at Hogan even though he hadn't looked away from his patient so wouldn't know anyway.

"Patients usually come to you, you can't go around asking every random person on the street if they'd like to be examined or need healing. Unless someone has a medical emergency right in front of you, it's on them to ask for help."

"Fair enough," Varanian muttered tiredly before frowning at Hogan, "Are you nearly done? I need to- I have to get back to things to do, that alarm is important since she's gone by the time we hear about the attack."

"Isn't the whole point of having a whole group to _not_ have to do everything yourself?"

"I'm letting you heal me, aren't I?"

"Only because you tried and failed to heal yourself," Hogan seemed to guess as he finally tore his eye away from Varanian's wounds to glance at the metamorphmagi as if to gauge his reaction, which was surprise turned scowl.

"I'm still doing it, aren't I?" Varanian reiterated through gritted teeth.

"He has a point," Scorpius spoke up, also realizing his chance to ask about Brutus. It earned Varanian's glare which was still piercing despite his exhaustion, in fact it looked pretty menacing coming from him in such a demented state.

"No one else knows anything about this stuff."

"Did you ask? Rutherford made an alarm for Hogwarts, he has experience."

"Who?"

"He's one of the new people, isn't he?" Scorpius queried when Varanian looked puzzled, he was sure he'd heard Rutherford was new.

"I thought he was Lamb?"

"No, Lamb is the one here I mean the new people at the base or wherever from Hogwarts."

"Oh… right," Varanian muttered, a scowl returning as he looked away, "Why did I agree to let new people in again?"

"Okay, your wound is treated," Hogan spoke up, stepping back from Varanian whose wounds were now bandaged and the metamorphmagi immediately stood, "You haven't lost enough blood to need a full regime of Blood-Replenishing Potion but you've lost enough to have weakness so you should have a couple more in the next few days, you also need to eat regularly. It's not like you can starve yourself for a fortnight then binge eat and it makes up for it, it doesn't and doing that will just make you throw up. But most importantly: _rest._ You need to rest, you've got to give yourself time to heal and you can't not have noticed how bad a state you're in. If you keep pushing yourself without any regards to your health you'll die. If you want to kill yourself, there's faster ways and if you want to keep fighting the Shadows you need to take care of yourself, or you've already lost."

"If I don't do the things I need to do because I'm too busy sleeping we could still lose! Besides, I _can't_ sleep."

"That's why sleeping potions were invented," Hogan offered, waving the final vial of potion at him but Varanian merely scowled at it.

"Why? So if something goes wrong I can't do anything?"

"It'll be fine, Varanian, please," Scorpius pleaded with him and Varanian glanced at him with a slightly less harsh expression, meeting his eyes, "It's not that long, Gray can survive a day while you sleep and you'll think straighter to solve problems better. If something happens we can deal with it because of I'll ask my teacher Rojer for advice about Jack/One, it's not like we have anything to lose at this point and… and I could try talking to Brutus, he knows the Shadow Master better than anyone and might know something to track her. Okay? You don't have to think of every little thing by yourself."

"Okay," Varanian said with a reluctant sigh, "I'll take the Sleeping Draught."

"Really?" Scorpius couldn't help but blurt out in surprise, expecting more resistance but reconsidered that might not be the best thing to say when Hogan shot him a glare as if expecting it make Varanian change his mind again, "I mean, that's great! Do you want me to roll you out a sleeping bag?"

"Sure," Varanian agreed blankly, his tone devoid of any enthusiasm.

Scorpius went to do so, allowing himself a relieved breath once out of the room. He raided the sleep supply, there were thankfully still sleeping bags and he rolled one out on the living room floor beside his. He heard Varanian suppressing a yawn as he and Hogan followed him in just after he threw down a pillow with it, he flopped down onto the sleeping bag for a second and his eyes fluttered.

"So how long until this potion…" Varanian started to say but trailed off, asleep pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"Wow, that stuff works pretty fast," Scorpius commented to Hogan in surprise.

"Figured I should use something strong and fast acting in case he changed his mind," Hogan shrugged nonchalantly, flicking his wand lazily to have Varanian's boots remove themselves and the sleeping bag wrap around him so he'd be more comfortable.

"Wise," Scorpius added as Hogan left, probably to go clean up the vials and stuff.

Scorpius sighed, putting the boots with the rest of the shoes before he went and he crawled back into his own sleeping bag. He hadn't realized how rough a shape Varanian was in and how badly he was taking things, it was understandable of course but somehow he just thought Varanian would be okay or at least better then this. It made him worry how everyone else was doing, Varanian wasn't the only person to have lost someone – or two, counting the unborn baby – of late. He wasn't sure what he could do to help with the grief but he'd just have to try make sure he got Varanian to do basic things like eat, he seemed to listen to him at least.

He also felt good at the thought of having something to do, asking Rojer about Jack/One was totally something he could do and he had permission to talk to Brutus like he'd wanted. He didn't see why he couldn't ask him about Calderon as well as about tracking Sal, conversations could have more than one topic. He'd just get Lamb to apparate him over there since he couldn't do so himself because of his humiliating and frustrating in ability to apparate… Scorpius' line of thought trailed off as he glanced over to Lamb who had already curled up and gone back to sleep, his wrist still twitching unhealthily. Lamb, who was a werewolf and was in such a tired and weak state because of the upcoming full moon... so not really up to apparating. Scorpius sighed again, he supposed it'd just have to wait a few days.

* * *

Antonius Ashain hobbled onwards weakly, leaning heavily on a former branch turned walking stick for support that creaked dangerously each time. His injured leg throbbed painfully, every step sending a fresh rush of pain through it. It didn't hurt as badly as when it first occurred but that didn't mean it didn't hurt, in fact he swore it had only gotten worse lately and that the bandage felt tighter. The heat didn't help, the summer sun beat down on him. He felt like he was on fire and was very aware of the film of sweat on his brow, the heat also very much sapped his strength and he felt ready for bed even though it was only the middle of the day.

His dog Hope loyally plodded along by his side, occasionally sparing him a concerned look and having to slow down to keep up with him. Cassia's vulture flew overheard, despite knowing Convaris was friendly he couldn't help but feel like it was just waiting for him to drop so it could eat him. Cassia herself was walking ahead, smoking another cigarette. He wished she'd stop doing that, or at the very least stop putting them out on her arms. He was worried about her, she didn't seem to care though.

He didn't think it helped that they were barely sleeping, they were focused on keeping moving and found sleep hard anyway which he thought was probably a combination of everything on their minds and sleeping rough. Cassia insisted they avoid civilization as much as possible since they didn't want to draw attention to themselves and risk being sent to Skye or something so they just slept outside, as much as he'd hate to admit it he missed that house they'd broken into. They weren't eating much either, just whatever Convaris – and sometimes Cassia depending how close to civilization they were – scraps could scavenge for them. He'd never admit it aloud but he thought Florian did a much better of job of this kind of living, they ate real food and slept in comfort if not real beds then.

Cassia said they were getting close to Plymouth at least, not long now. Apparently, Cassia was the one handling directions since she could communicate with birds and go into town and all. He just limped through fields that all looked the same, they could be going around in circles for all he knew. Especially now when he was burning up, it was all he could do just to keep putting one foot in front of the oth-

Antonius' line of thought was cut off abruptly as his walking stick snapped, sending him tumbling to the ground. He cried out in pain as his injured leg collided with the ground, having to lay there for a minute breathing through teeth gritted against the pain. Cassia was on him in the next instant, helping him to sit up.

"Are you okay?" Cassia asked of him with concern while Hope started nuzzling him less helpfully.

"Yeah, my stick just broke," Antonius admitted, breathing heavily through the pain. Well, in truth he wasn't so sure he was okay but not because he'd fallen. He glanced instinctively at his leg, Cassia's identical eyes following suit where he saw the branch must've caught the bandage as the bloody, dirt-stained thing was now torn, "It's not that bad a rip, I'm sure its fine."

"Well there's the ruins of some place the Shadow Master hit nearby, can scavenge for some bandages there. No reason to take a risk. Depending how bad it is, we might even have shelter for the night."

"I guess," Antonius agreed vaguely, not really wanting to slow them down but also liking the idea. Now he was sitting all he felt like doing was sleeping, after stripping down of course because his clothes felt like an oven.

"Come on then, lean on me."

On that, Cassia helped him to back up with his arm slung around her shoulder so he could lean on her for support. He gritted his teeth again for the pain once more and they trudged on again, progress was painfully slow and the heat only seemed to get worse even though the day should be getting cooler the closer they got to night.

"Here we are," Cassia said abruptly.

Antonius' head shot up quickly – he hadn't even realized he was sagging – to see… well, what had probably been a town not too long ago. It was ruin now, you could see random walls marking where buildings had once been but now were just vomiting out the rubble that was strewn about everywhere. Strangely enough, there was a sign that seemed new and untouched by the destruction with the message: _Please contact us immediately if you are aware of a Shadow attack in progress so appropriate action may be taken. Civilians are advised during this time to stay indoors as much as possible or alternatively come to the shelter nearest to you, these are magically protected locations were you will be provided with food and accommodation during this crisis._ It then had some locations, contact information and fine print acknowledging this was a government notice.

"What's that all about?" Antonius wondered aloud at the sign.

"Oh, that's just the Ministry," Cassia brushed it off dismissively and he felt her shrug as they kept moving into the ruined town, "They have signs like that up all over and they broadcast it on the radio all the time too, advertising these safe areas for people to go to so they can protect them. More people seem to be going to them the more attacks happen, other people are not but there is lots of traveling. If your leg wasn't hurt we could've hitched a lift and probably got to Plymouth much faster."

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Antonius grumbled while Hope suddenly ran off eagerly.

"I know."

"What's Hope doing?"

"Sniffing stuff, just like she usually does," Cassia answered disinterestedly and unhelpfully before they heard Hope whine, "Actually, I think she's found something."

Antonius opened his mouth to comment but it quickly became a pained grunt through gritted teeth as Cassia moved them into the rubble, the uneven ground meaning he had to move his broken leg even more which hurt even more. They also had to move even slower because it wasn't solid ground anymore, loose rocks and shards of glass shifting underfoot were a lot more frightening when you only had one usable leg and were leaning heavily on your little sister for support.

Hope it seemed was in the ruins of a building though only two walls remained now and both only partially, it actually still had the remnants of a lopsided half-collapsed roof that crushed what might've been a desk or a shop counter. In fact, upon stepping on a piece of a sign with a bone and the letter 'P' – the rest was lost under debris – he thought it probably had been a shop, beneath that he also saw the remains of cracked linoleum tiles. He wondered if anyone had been in it when it collapsed, if anyone had been or died here. There were some fragments of plastic and rope amidst the grave of wooden shelves buried by broken bricks, Hope was pawing at something around there.

"What is it, girl?" Antonius asked his dog gently though Cassia was moving him more over to the roof going through the counter, "Cassia-"

"I can see what it is she's doing easier without you," Cassia explained before he could ask as she stopped by it.

He sighed as he leaned against it, if he was slowing his sister down what use would he be to Gray? It hurt so badly and he still felt like he was on fire, even though he knew the air had to be getting cooler. Using the roof – which was angled more like a wall – for support, he slunk down to the ground and leaned against it breathing heavily. Now that he was sitting down, it occurred to him that he was actually pretty tired.

" _Acuta_!" Cassia's voice cried, jolting eyes he hadn't realized had closed back open in panic. He wasn't sure what she'd done but Hope dived into the spot she'd been pawing at, seeming scoffing down something. His sister saw him looking, "Dog food. There's a bag of dog food under this rubble, I just cut it open for her to eat. You just rest here with her, I'll scavenge around for the bandages and see if there's any food."

"Be careful," Antonius urged her, it wasn't like there was much else he could do.

Cassia's narrowed slightly as if annoyed he told her that but said nothing as she walked off, leaving to be more useful then him while he boiled alive. He really wasn't feeling good. Not even slightly.

He rested his head against the rather uncomfortable roof, shingles did not make for a good surface to rest on. He still found his eyes inexplicably closing though, listening to Hope munch away at the food. He just wanted to sleep. And to not feel so hot, he could feel his shirt smothering his skin. In fact, why was he wearing it? He was completely alone right now, it wasn't like it mattered. Without further thought, Antonius took off his shirt and was relieved to feel the chill of the wind on his bare chest. He still felt too hot but it helped a little, it also allowed him to ball his shirt up to put between his head and the roof to be more comfortable. That was much better…

"Anton?"

Antonius' eyes snapped open at the sound of his name, shocked to find it was much later judging by the near dark sky. He felt like he'd only closed his eyes a second ago, he didn't feel like any time had passed. He was still tired, his leg still throbbed and he still felt hot. Cassia was kneeling beside him, an armful of bashed boxes of biscuits and cereal by her side that Hope had come over to sniff.

"Strange food choice," Antonius said the first thing that popped into his head.

"You're complaining about the food I found in rubble while you're sitting here shirtless?" Cassia countered readily and he felt his face burn a little in embarrassment.

"I feel _really_ hot, okay?"

"You're shivering," Cassia pointed out what he hadn't actually realized until then, he was shivering but he could feel beads of sweat on his brow. Cassia put her hand on his forehead, pulling it away almost as soon as she touched him, she scowled, "You do feel like you're on fire though. You have a fever?"

"I'm sure it's nothing," Antonius insisted, not wanting to seem any worse than he already was and quickly pulled his shirt back on, "Did you find the bandages?"

"Yeah," Cassia confirmed and held up a sealed bandage, "You ready to change the bandage?"

"Yeah, we should do it before it gets dark," Antonius said, swallowing nervously while sitting up a little straighter, "Go for it."

Cassia started unraveling the bandage he had on while he could just grit his teeth against the pain, bitterly he supposed at least it was keeping his mind off his grief. He was already dreading to see how bad his leg looked and seeing his sister cringe told him it didn't look good, just the bandage itself was gross.

The wound looked bad, it looked really bad. Without the bandage he could see he hadn't been crazy about it seeming too tight, the area around the large jagged wound was all red and swollen, it still didn't look properly straight either. And the wound itself was disgusting, it was drowning in a quagmire of manky yellowish green puss. He averted his eyes, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

"Do… Do you want me to wash it again?" Cassia asked of him, sounding very unusually uncertain, "Would that help?"

"I don't know," Antonius sighed heavily, sparing a glance at his gross leg again and regretting it instantly. It looked so bad, almost like someone had thrown up inside the wound, "I think it's infected already."

"And that's not good?"

"It's not good, it's probably why I have a fever."

"I guess I should wash it again then," Cassia decided and proceeded to pour some of her bottle of drinking water over the wound, he wasn't entirely sure that was how you were supposed to clean wounds, "So how long does fever last for?"

"I don't know," Antonius admitted as he closed his eyes, resting his head against the roof again.

He wasn't particularly knowledgeable about such things, maybe running off alone hadn't been the greatest idea in the world. But then what was the alternative? Abandoning his friends? Letting the deaths all be in vain? How was he supposed to just do nothing while the world was falling apart around him? In fact, he could just as easily have gotten hurt from staying since the Shadow Master was attacking randomly out of nowhere… he tried not to think about Skye being at risk of the same thing.

"You will be okay though, right?" Cassia asked of him, a hint of fear in her voice making his eyes flutter back open to see her opening the new bandage for his leg, "Like it's not serious, they should still be able to just heal you… right?"

"Yeah," Antonius brushed it off, least he thought it was. He hoped it was anyway, "And like you said, we're pretty close to Plymouth anyway so I'm… I'm sure it'll be fine."


	8. IIX: Full Moon Rising

_**Thanks to:** Cal, SiriusSunday, Colin Creevey, New post yay, ChakraKitty, Cortana and RandomGerman for reviewing! And for all the supportive things people said_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Hogan wants to save Wyatt? What the heck?_**  
 _Wyatt is one of them and he's pretty useful, he also could get them all killed if he caves under torture_

 ** _Did Varanian really go THAT long without eating?_**  
 _Yep_

 _ **How is he (Varanian) still alive? Power of insanity?**  
He survived being burned alive twice, he's pretty resilient  
_

 ** _Are they (Antonius and Cassia) at Plymouth? Is this Plymouth?_**  
 _No, not only are they not in Plymouth but Scorpius isn't either. The new base is too small so Gray is divided between three locations: Hogan's house (where Scorpius is), the Embry's house (where Michael is) and the new base (where Brutus is). The Embry's house is in Plymouth, the other two locations are not. Cassia and Antonius only know where the Embry's house is since its where they came from so that's where they're going_

 ** _Do they (Antonius and Cassia) even know where they're going? Do they know how to get to where they want to go? Or are they just wandering the country aimlessly scanning every last inch of it till they find it?_**  
 _They do know where they're going, or at least Cassia does because she's the one who can look at maps in towns and has access to birds_

 _ **Is Agnes ok? Is Agnes gonna be ok?**  
She's not really okay right now, she already struggles with self esteem (she was bullied in muggle school about her face) and looks up to Michael so to hear him say that was extremely hurtful and she's still pretty upset. Whether she'll be okay eventually, who knows?  
_

 _ **Do the potions they give him (Lysel) help him or are they what actually make him sick? Could it be he doesn't need all these other potions either? ARE THE POTIONS THEY KEEP HIVING LYSEL ACTUALLY THE REASON HE IS ALWAYS SO SICK?**  
Interesting theory but no, the potions do actually help him and they're not the reason he's sick. All werewolves are weakened around the full moon and for Lysel's its just so bad because he's so young and is born a werewolf so has more connection to it, he had to go through transformations basically since birth and its a massive toll on such a small body. Most werewolves don't even take the other potions, they're really just things to basically strengthen different aspects his body so he can survive. As a side effect some contribute to his being ill (especially since he doesn't always respond to things the same way a human does) but in general he would be worse without them (he could still die from this) and the younger he was the more crucial they were to his survival, he wouldn't have lived to his first birthday if Hogan hadn't created this regime for him or spent hours healing him after  
_

 _ **Could u male Lysel super cool by letting him turn into werewolf at will outside of full moon?**  
Even if he could do that he wouldn't want to, transformations are painful and dangerous for him  
_

 _ **Would Sal still be crazy if she had been allowed to go to hogwarts?**  
Probably not actually, there's a lot of variables but if she'd just gotten to be normal and accepted she'd probably just be normal and wouldn't feel the need for world domination  
_

 _ **Are molly and scorpi us gonna be ok?**  
Maybe  
_

 _ **Will scorpi us see her (Molly) os ruined because of her big raped?**  
No  
_

 _ **What exactly went through Atticus' mind when fighting Sal?**  
He was thinking Brutus would step in and stop her. She trusts Brutus and he could've gotten close to her and subdued her (as he does later in the book), that's why Molly saw this time as being his window because he could've stopped her all along. Atticus just thought his brother would step in and stop her in order to save him  
_

 _ **What is the name of Varanian's child?**  
It doesn't have a name yet  
_

* * *

"Well, I hope you're happy," Marigold grumbled which snapped Wyatt from his thoughts.

He cocked his head to one side – he had to because he was missing an eye – to see as the Head Healer came back into his quarters, he'd been letting him stay there since it was easier then him needing to fend for himself for the week and allowed him to recover. Wyatt was feeling better, his wounds had healed up and Marigold had fed him so he could build his strength back up. He was still concerned about his missing eye, he'd been doing his best to get used to working around it – he had plenty of practice since he'd mostly had to stay as a lizard, it was safer – and had managed some recon but it was still pretty bad. He supposed he couldn't complain though, Marigold couldn't heal himself so he still sported half-healed bruises from the beating James had given him and the prisoners were even worse off.

"This is it," Marigold told him as he reached the desk Wyatt was on, putting down a vial of what he'd come to recognize as Wolfsbane. Marigold and shakily poured half of it into an empty vial before swallowing nervously, "I take this and I should be all set for the full moon tonight, if your theory is true anyway. If not I'm damning myself to a life of lycanthropy all for nothing."

Marigold glanced at him as if expecting him to comment on it, Wyatt wasn't sure what he'd say even if he could say anything Marigold would understand while he was still a lizard and he thought Marigold was just stalling anyway. He hadn't been able to think of a better plan all week and neither had Marigold, his crazy idea remained their best idea. Marigold sighed and quickly downed one of the vials, his face screwed up in disgust.

"For the record, that stuff tastes absolutely _disgusting_ ," Marigold complained, Wyatt did his best to look sympathetic. The healer sighed, "Well I better go give Sebastian his poison, try drown whatever's left of my taste buds. Get yourself ready, it shouldn't be too long before James calls it a day."

Wyatt nodded, suddenly feeling rather nervous as Marigold left with the still half-full vial. He hadn't realized how close they were to the full moon, well he knew it was tonight but time was moving treacherously fast. He was eager to get on it but he was also terrified, he knew so many things could go horrifically wrong and it could end in spectacular failure. He erm… he decided just try not to think about that right now, he should think of something more positive. Like how if it all went well he could be eating gummy worms at sunrise, delicious.

He couldn't do much else besides wait, they'd already agreed he should stay put until James left as it was pointless to risk capture so close to the full moon whereas when James left he'd take a bunch of Shadows and it'd be safer to navigate. Usually Wyatt wouldn't worry about it but now he was down an eye… it was crippling as a lizard, their eye position meant he lost an entire half of his vision and the vacuum of darkness to his left made it harder to navigate. It was also pretty disconcerting. He stretched his legs and wings around the room for a bit then tried to take a nap, he wasn't sure if he succeeded but he'd been not been sleeping well so he thought it was logical to try rest.

"Absolutely not!" a familiar and very unwelcome voice shot out suddenly from the Hospital Wing, making Wyatt panic that Marigold had been found out somehow.

He flew out to investigate and confirmed James Sirius Potter as the speaker, the sadist was standing there in his black robes glowering at Marigold with his dark brown eyes. He looked a lot like his brother - and by extension his father - but also very different.

"You're _supposed_ to be making sure the werewolf kid lives so he can join our werewolf army," James continued whatever he'd been saying testily, "There's no reason to check on the prisoners, I'm the judge on whether they're hurt bad enough to require healing."

"I'm sorry, when did you go through three years of Healer training?" Marigold snapped in a sardonic tone that James didn't seem to appreciate as he immediately punched Marigold, Wyatt cringed as there was a crack and Marigold's head shot back.

"You don't need training, common sense is all you need to judge this. I'm not an idiot," James snarled as Marigold clutched at his nose, blood drops slipping through his fingers. Marigold didn't look deterred though and surprisingly met the murderous gaze, Wyatt kinda hoped he'd back off though lest he got himself killed and their plan was ruined, "Show some respect to your superiors, if you didn't want to work for us you shouldn't have stayed behind like the pathetic coward you are. Now get back to the job you're supposed to be doing you Slytherin scum, I'll be back in the morning to see whether you manage to save this kid or not."

On that note James stalked off out of the Hospital Wing, jerking his hand in a following motion as he did so and Wyatt realized it was directed at Yannis standing near the door. Wyatt sighed regretfully as Yannis obediently followed, he would've liked to save him too to repay the help he'd given but unfortunately James kept his slave close so he wouldn't be there. Some other time, stopping the Shadows would free _all_ of the slaves after all.

He heard Marigold grumbling under his breath and noticed the Healer passing him to get back into his office, still clutching his nose. Wyatt spared a glance to Sebastian to see the poor kid looked exhausted and was seemingly asleep before following Marigold, the Healer was now trying to stop his nosebleed. Wyatt looked around to reassure himself they were alone before transforming back, making Marigold jump for a second which had him move his hand to reveal his now crooked and probably definitely broken nose.

"Want some help with that?" Wyatt asked, he was no healing expert but fixing a broken nose was a simple enough spell he could do. Marigold sighed and handed over his wand – they knew where Wyatt's was but hadn't gotten it back yet in case they noticed, were holding out until the last second – to use, " _Episkey_."

"Thank you," Marigold muttered as his nose slotted back, taking back his wand the second it had though he didn't look particularly pleased.

"What was that all about? We don't want to risk anything when we're so close."

"I _only_ asked if I could check on the prisoners, James doesn't let me treat them properly and we need them stable before we leave," Marigold answered irritably, crossing his arms, "And I _know_ we don't want to risk anything but do _you_ know what it's like as someone who dedicated their life to healing people to know innocents are being tortured a few floors below you? To be forced to treat those people only enough to keep them alive to continue suffering?! Do you know-"

"I get it! It sucks!" Wyatt cut him, holding up his hands in a gesture of stopping Marigold from going on a rant, "But you don't have to put up with it anymore, just relax."

"I am relaxed!"

"You sound relaxed," Wyatt quipped sarcastically and Marigold threw him a glare but nonetheless took a deep breath as if to calm himself.

"Well, be ready," Marigold grumbled, "It's not that long before Sebastian transforms and the majority of Shadows are leaving now."

"Okay, I'll get on scouting them out."

Wyatt transformed back into a lizard and flew off, having to try be careful to compensate for the drop off of his vision as he tried to cling to every nook and cranny he could to stay out of sight. People were indeed leaving but his focus wasn't so much on them as on who was staying, after all he'd still need to take them out so they wouldn't stop them. They'd need to do it discretely to remain undetected as much as possible so knowing which ones remained and where they were stationed would obviously be helpful, they'd also need to move as fast as possible because they checked in every two hours so that would be their window.

After all was said and done, there were six guards remaining: two guarding the cells, two guarding the Hospital Wing and two patrolling. Wyatt checked around but they seemed to be all that was left, to compensate for the lesser numbers the Inferi seemed closer to the entrances then usual but still just the six in pairs which he thought he could take by surprise. He followed the patrolling ones for a while, picking up the pattern of their route before returning to the Hospital Wing. Sebastian hadn't transformed yet, Marigold was sitting with him though.

"- your chest is going to hurt a lot," Marigold was telling the poor boy gently, Sebastian evidently was awake now and looking rather afraid, "Your ribs are still fragile and some will probably break but I should be able to heal that quickly, I know it might be hard but try to stay as still as possible. The less you move, the easier it'll be and the less damage. Do you understand?"

"I think so, I'll do my best," Sebastian nodded, still looking tired despite sleeping all day, "In case I don't make it though, I wanted to… to thank you. You've been so nice to me and you tried so hard to save me, even stayed behind to help me. I don't deserve it and you didn't have to but you still did, you're a good person and I wanted to thank for you everything you've done."

"I… erm… it's just my job," Marigold stammered out, his face flushing red in embarrassment at Sebastian's gratitude, "And of course you deserve help, you're a good kid."

"If I do live I'm going to be a part of their werewolf army and they'll make me hurt a lot of people," Sebastian pointed out, blinking back tears. They hadn't told him of the escape plan, was hard with the guards outside, "That's hardly good."

"It's like you just said, they'll _make_ you, it's hardly your fault they're monsters who'll take advantage of you," Marigold told him firmly, "Okay?"

"Okay," Sebastian muttered, wiping at his eyes and Marigold's expression was kind as he patted him awkwardly on the shoulder as if to try to comfort him. Sebastian seemed to take this as an offering for a hug as he leaned against Marigold, the Healer reluctantly putting his arm around him.

"It'll be okay," Marigold assured him gently, "Just trust me."

"We're shutting this door now that it's almost time!" one of the guards called down to them before sealing the large double doors into the Hospital Wing, which was actually helpful.

Wyatt swallowed nervously, he hoped it would go well. Marigold had Sebastian get undressed and put the pajamas aside so they wouldn't be torn up when he transformed, though he let Sebastian stay under the blanket and waited by his side patiently. It wasn't long before Sebastian cried out in pain as the full moon's light filtered through the window, he threw back the blanks and Wyatt caught a glimpse of the poor kid's horribly scarred chest before he started to transform. The papery thin skin was all distorted in a way similar to Varanian's burn scars and he could see the shape of the fragile ribs beneath, his nipples and belly button were also nothing but the same scar tissue now as well.

Sebastian started screaming as his body started morphing, he seemed to be doing his best to stay still as Marigold had said but the transformation was still contorting his small body. Well, his body was rapidly becoming _not_ small as it violently stretched and bulged while hair sprouted over every visible patch of skin. There was a sickening snap as his chest expanded, some of the ribs jabbing through and Sebastian howled in pain now he was a werewolf.

He looked pretty awkward lying on his back on a bed he was now larger than, Marigold didn't seem fazed as he started waving his wand rapidly over Sebastian's chest with a look of intense focus. There was a crack as his ribs started slotting back into place, the skin healed over. Marigold kept waving his wand but the pain Sebastian was in seemed to have eased, he went quiet and the tension left his face. After a few minutes Marigold breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his wand.

"There you go, Sebastian, you're stable," Marigold told him, a smile creeping onto the corners of his mouth and Wyatt also allowed himself a sigh of relief while Sebastian rolled onto his side, "You're okay."

Wyatt took this as being the perfect opportunity to transform, now the doors were closed for once not only did it mean the guards couldn't see them but they also wouldn't be able to see Marigold putting up a charm against eavesdropping so they could speak freely. Sebastian jolted in surprise at his appearance but for once Marigold seemed to expect him, Wyatt glanced at the door and Marigold cast his wand at the door to stop the guards from hearing. Sebastian's now golden eyes were wide and glancing between the pair of them in confusion.

"We're escaping, Sebastian," Marigold explained to the werewolf quickly, "We're not going to let them put you in their werewolf army."

"We have to wait until they check in again, it'll give us the longest window to act," Wyatt reiterated and Marigold nodded as he understood the plan already, "Fill Sebastian in and just be ready, I'll get my wand then take out the wandering guards after they check in then I'll come back and we'll take out the two outside. There are two at the dungeons but I'll take them out when we all head down there to free the others, it'll save a bit of time that way. Okay?"

"Okay."

Wyatt transformed back into a lizard and glided across the room, squeezing out of the window as he'd have to go around with the door still shut. He didn't mind, it was painfully cold but nothing he couldn't handle as there were plenty of things to use for a grip until he got to another open window to get back inside. _Now_ he retrieved his wand because he'd need that to take the guards out, it was unguarded and they were just tossed on a random table haphazardly. He also grabbed his father's wand and Sebastian's, he hadn't seen the others' wands enough to recognize them and there was extra wands presumably from the dead or something so he couldn't just take them all.

He then scouted around and found the moving guards - he considered them the biggest threat – and followed them, waiting for them to check in again and listening to them mostly complaining about being stuck in a castle with a werewolf while James got to relax safely far away. Eventually they did check in though, which they did via summoning a Specter to go between all of them then leave to pass on the all clear. It was now or never.

Wyatt swallowed nervously and jumped down, transforming back into a human and hitting one of them in the back with a stunner. The other one started to turn as they noticed their partner fall but not fast enough to avoid Wyatt's second stunner, he breathed a shaky sigh of relief as they both went down without issue. His heart was still racing and his palms sweaty, for all the practice Varanian put him through he still hadn't much experience with real combat and a lot was riding on him not screwing up. It was okay though, two down and four to go. He took the wands off the guards and levitated them into the nearest room, conjuring ropes to bind and gag them to slow them down when they woke up and for good measure put their wands in the next room he came across to hinder them further.

He then transformed back into a lizard and returned to the Hospital Wing as he'd said, Sebastian was now out of bed and just sitting on the floor while Marigold paced. This time the Head Healer did jump when he turned back while Sebastian seemed to expect it.

"Two down, we have to move," Wyatt told him quickly as they were on the clock now, "Open the doors, I'll fly over them and hit them from behind when they're distracted."

"O- Okay," Marigold stammered out as Wyatt gave him no time to reply, already turning back into a lizard and getting into position. Marigold flicked his wand to make them able to hear again and cleared his throat nervously as he approached the doors, "Um… hello? Soul Eater people? I… I um… really need assistance with something."

"We ain't going in there with no dog," a voice called back from the other side of the door as if indignant at the suggestion, "You're on your own."

"But that escaped prisoner you asked for is here! He's stealing medical supplies!" Marigold hissed.

The reaction was instantaneous, they seemed to scrabble to get the door open quickly. They rushed in while Wyatt flew over their heads, transforming back as he landed on the ground behind them. He sent two stunners spiraling into their backs, they hit the ground at Marigold's feet. He quickly took their wands and levitated them to a nearby room, binding and gagging them as well. He put the wands down in the Hospital Wing as Marigold ushered Sebastian over.

"The others are probably in rough shape, Sebastian can help carry them back if they can't walk and it'll be good practice for later," Marigold said to him and Wyatt nodded, that sounded fair enough.

"Okay then but stay back until we take out the guards, right Sebastian?" Wyatt offered to the boy who nodded himself so he turned back to Marigold, "Distract the new guards again and I'll hit them from behind, seems to be working pretty good."

"Okay."

Wyatt transformed back into a lizard and landed on Marigold's shoulder because the Head Healer could walk faster, the Head Healer who was clenching and unclenching his fists nervously as he walked. Sebastian plodded along behind them until they drew close enough to the corridor with cells that Wyatt worried his footsteps would alert them, he held up a hand to tell Sebastian to stop and the werewolf complied. He scampered off of Marigold to give himself time to get in position, leaping from wall to wall to gain height and was crawling across the ceiling by the time he was in the corridor with the guards. He got onto the other side of them and braced himself as Marigold approached, the guards both drew their wands and one turned it on Marigold who held up his hands in innocence.

"What are you doing down here?" one of the guards growled at him.

"I'm worried about the prisoners, I want to check-" Marigold started to answer but he didn't finish his sentence as Wyatt transformed back and stunned the last two guards from behind, "Well that was easy."

"That's called getting the drop on someone," Wyatt pointed out, breathing a sigh of relief as he took the wands off the guards while Marigold took the keys, "I'll remove the enchantments from these cells, you take care of these guys and get Sebastian."

"Okay."

Wyatt took another breath and turned his attention to the enchantments that would trigger if the cells opened, he wasn't the best at this but Varanian had covered it and the enchantments weren't _that_ strong. Undoing some's enchantment was kind of like picking a lock, you had to make extremely small and precise wand movements that were slightly different for not only every spell but each caster. You had to do the counter enchantment then do the original backwards or rather variations on them, you had to go by feel as vibrations or a tug on your hand meant you were going off track but it was also the only way to know if you went off track. Every time you went wrong you have to repeat it, go too far wrong your progress would be lost and you had to start with the counter again but if you went even further wrong you'd not only fail but would alert the caster someone was trying to break their enchantment. And that was just 'simple' enchantments, skilled wizards added layers to the base enchantment you had to get through which was extra wand movements they made up you had to go through in reverse. Permeant enchantments could be complicated, thankfully they were difficult to pull off and James' magical ability clearly in other areas. And people thought Transfiguration – which was by far the easiest kind of magic in his opinion, and the funnest – was tough? Rudy thought it was fun but Rudy also thought Math was fun, Varanian also liked it but he was freaking Varanian-

"Done," Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief as he lowered his wand, feeling the enchantment break. When he wasn't focusing on his potential failure, it was a lot easier to just go with the flow. He glanced at Marigold who had evidently done as asked as the guards were gone and Sebastian was there, the Head Healer moved by him to unlock the door with the keys.

He hadn't realized how much he'd been both dreading and hoping to get his father first until he saw it wasn't his father's cell, it was actually the Korays. Pollux and Auriga were sitting by the door, not that he'd know that if he didn't know them. Auriga's hair had been shaved off completely and her face was badly swollen from bruises, blood seemed to have trickled from her nose and mouth then tried. Her brother fair a bit better, he still had his hair but had a black eye and a fat lip still. They both also looked underfed but were otherwise okay, as he approached their father the Astronomy professor he was sorely informed the kids could be in a much worse state.

Unlike his kids the professor lay on a table thing, not only shackled down but _nailed_. His limbs had been stretched until they were completely dislocated and twistedly broken, his nails were gone and blades had been shoved in their place in the digits he had left anyway. He was shirtless, showing off the expansive assortment of half-healed cuts, fresh cuts and scars covering his torso along with numerous burns, all of which were distorted by the patchwork bruises staining his flesh. James had also peeled a lot of the skin off his left hand and wrist, a bit on his shoulder and the soles of his feet. Wyatt had to cover his mouth to stop himself vomiting, finding he was shaking now. And this could've been _him_ , there was no way he could've possibly resisted breaking. He wasn't that strong. Koray hadn't even had the option of caving to end his pain because he was innocent, he didn't know a thing.

"Today we're going to be looking at Saturn, often remembered for the prominent rings surrounding it," Koray spoke out of the blue, under his breath and in a hoarser voice then Wyatt had heard him use. He blinked in surprise at the odd topic and glanced at him, despite the horror show his body was his face was pretty completely untouched bar the beads of sweat on his brow though his eyes were closed, "Of course it's not the only planet to have rings, the other gas giants – Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune – also have rings but we're not looking at them right now. Can anyone tell me how many rings Saturn has?"

"Um…" Wyatt tried to remember but he'd usually slept through the class and copied homework off Rudy, "No idea."

"That's absolutely correct, take twenty points to Slytherin."

"I'm sorry, what?" Wyatt wondered in bewilderment, he wasn't a Slytherin and he was pretty sure 'no idea' wasn't the correct answer-

"He's feverish!" Marigold snapped and Wyatt tore his eyes away to see the Healer had come over, the kids were getting shakily to their feet in the background no longer bruised, "He's not even aware you exist, isn't it obvious?!"

"Oh right," Wyatt muttered, feeling a little dumb in it seem a little obvious in hindsight that Koray was out of it. He was still babbling on about astronomy to himself, he didn't seem aware of them or anything. He was also shivering, Wyatt realized.

"Ugh, this is exactly what I was worried about! James wouldn't let me heal him, I _knew_ something was going to get infected and now he's burning up on top of everything else!" Marigold complained angrily, looking livid as he took out his wand which he waved over a barbed nail, pulling it out and Koray shuddered but otherwise seemed unfazed, he didn't even pause in his rambling, "Would you help me? We need to remove these nails to get him out of here."

"Sure," Wyatt agreed but regretted it, pulling barbed nails out of a human being made him feel pretty sick. He also tossed aside the guards wands while he was thinking about it, and to buy time of not having to do that. At least he thought he understood why the whole situation pissed Marigold off so much from a Healer's perspective, he wouldn't want to be in his position.

"My sister went to go get the wands," Pollux informed them as he came over, his navy eyes gazing at his dad solemnly.

"Why don't you go wait outside then? You shouldn't have to see this."

"Why? At least he's not aware he's in pain right now," Pollux pointed out sadly, the professor was indeed still chattering on aimlessly about stars still, "Not like James didn't force me to watch him torture my dad, or beat my sister, or hear by best friend being tortured because I'm too weak for him to hurt directly."

"How long has he been feverish?" Marigold asked of the teen as they finished up the last of the nails, Wyatt waved his wand to unclip the shackles. Shackles which had rows of spikes on the inside, the bloody holes where they'd been digging into Koray looked pretty infected. James needed to die, like for the good of the world he just needed to not exist anymore.

"Just today. He was drifting in and out of consciousness for a while then he started… this," Pollux explained and gestured to his dad, Marigold was now running his wand over him in movements Wyatt recognized vaguely as some diagnostic spells. The teen's eyes narrowed darkly, "James got annoyed and went to go torture someone else, it's not fun for him if my dad's too out of it to be in pain."

"Okay. Sebastian, can you come over here?" Marigold said and Sebastian plodded shakily over, "He can't walk so I'm going to levitate him on to you so you can carry him, I'll then walk back with you so I can start treating him. Or stabilizing him as much as possible for the escape, it'd take too long to heal him properly right now. Wyatt, you work on freeing the others and I'll send Sebastian back to help carry them when he drops him off. Pol, walk back with them when he's carrying Byron so he can carry you too if you get too out of breath because Byron is the lightest. Alright?"

"Sounds good to me," Wyatt agreed and Pollux also nodded though he eyed Sebastian warily.

"Okay then," Marigold muttered, seeming slightly surprised as he'd expected them to fight him for some reason and handed over the keys to Wyatt, "Let's do it."

Marigold pulled Koray up into a sitting position while Sebastian turned around so they could access his back, he was as tall as Marigold now so should be able to handle carrying Koray. It wasn't like their whole plan was riding on it or anything. Marigold levitated Koray onto Sebastian's back, showing off that Koray's own back was just as if not more brutalized then his chest. Koray just slumped forward despite continuing his rambling, still not aware but Sebastian was doing okay. Marigold gave a relieved breath and headed out with Sebastian, the werewolf moving relatively slowly which Wyatt wasn't sure was from the weight of a fully grown man or deliberately done to stop him falling off.

"So what's the plan?" Pollux asked of him as they also left the cell, "For after this I mean, Marigold already mentioned not having much time."

"The plan is… um… well I'll tell you later when everyone's together," Wyatt decided, not wanting to go over it numerous times as they'd need to explain at least a second time to Auriga - hopefully more unless the others were also feverish – as it was a pretty crazy plan that could still fail horribly.

James had only put up the one enchantment for all three cells so he just had to use the key, his apprehension and hope for freeing his father next had only increased but he'd just open them in order. He took a deep breath as the lock clicked open and pushed the door open, it slowly creaking open to reveal it was Byron Knight not his dad. Relief and disappointment washed over him again, his dad would be the last one then.

Byron somehow seemed in worse and better shape than Koray at the same time, he was completely naked but he wasn't nailed to a table, instead he was hanging. He had hooks in his arms and different length stumps – to Wyatt's understanding the teen had lost his legs years before so James was actually innocent of amputating them – suspending him, every inch of his flesh was black and blue like he'd been used literally as a punching bag and he was buried in welts from whippings. He lacked the… 'creative variety' of sadistic wounds - for lack of a better word – then Koray but had seemingly more extensive injuries just from beatings and whippings, least from what Wyatt could tell in his unprofessional opinion.

"Please… Please, no more," Byron whimpered weakly and slightly slurred like it was hard to speak, his voice also hoarse and speaking showed off the rows of broken teeth. His eyes were either squeezed or swollen shut, tears were streaming from them, "James… Please, no more… _Please_."

"Byron!" Pollux called out, sounding pleased to see his friend and Byron struggled to open his eyes a crack in response.

"P- Pol?" Byron wondered shakily and Wyatt was glad he was more with it then Koray.

"We're gonna get you out of here, we're escaping."

"We are?"

"Yeah, we are," Wyatt confirmed and flicked his wand, making the chains extend so that Byron was on the floor so he wouldn't fall when they removed the hooks.

"Wh- What about James?" Byron asked, every syllable quivering in fear as he pushed his trembling body into a sitting position, "If he catches us…"

"He's not here, doesn't even want to risk being in the same castle as a werewolf on the full moon," Wyatt explained, both he and Pollux crouching to be on eye level while Byron started pulling the hooks out of himself, "He cut back the whole staff and we already took them out, Sebastian will back to carry you to the Hospital Wing in a minute so Marigold can help you."

"Or… you could just kill me," Byron suggested, stunning the both of them and they both seemed to have the same idea as they grabbed the hooks away from Byron as he broke down crying, " _Please_. I don't… I just want to be dead."

"Of course we're not going to kill you!" Pollux snapped angrily and Wyatt bit his tongue, his friend talk to him seemed to make more sense, "You can't just give up, what about your brother?!"

"What about him?" Byron croaked, still shivering as he tried to cover his nakedness. Wyatt conjured a nice warm blanket around him to give him some warmth and Byron wrapped it around himself tightly and protectively though continued sobbing, "H- He's better off, I'm just a b- burden to him anyway."

"You know that's not true-"

"Just because Kenelm is nice about it, it doesn't m- mean it's not true!"

"Byron-" Pollux started to say and tried to reach out to his friend but Byron flinched violently away.

"Please, Pol," Byron begged desperately, "I can't… I can't do this anymore."

"Okay, look," Pollux began, showing visible restraint, "You've been through a lot and you're hardly thinking straight right now, let's just focus on getting out of here alive. If you still feel like this when we're safe and you're reunited with your brother and you've had some time… well, we'll talk about it then. Okay?"

"Not really," Byron sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut again while Sebastian poked his head in the door, "Nothing is okay anymore."

"Sebastian!" Wyatt called the honey-colored werewolf over and Byron tried to open his eyes again, he glanced back to him, "I'm going to need to lift you onto his back, okay?"

Byron gave a vague shrug and closed his eyes again while Sebastian came over and got into position, Wyatt lifted him up carefully – though the teen still tensed – and placed him onto Sebastian's back still in the blanket. The teen was pretty light and if Sebastian had evidently succeeded with Koray he should be fine, Byron looked more securely on his back too as he was consciously holding on.

"Okay, you lot head back and Sebastian, return as soon as you can," Wyatt told them, Sebastian and Pollux nodding as they left.

Wyatt took a deep breath when he was alone again, now for his father. He left the cell nervously and went on to the next one – well actually it was opposite Koray and Byron's in between then – where his dad was, biting his lip and desperately hoping his dad was somehow better off than the others had been. His churning stomach had wedged itself into a knot, he had to remind himself to breathe as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

His dad was again in a different position to the others, he was in the center of the room with his hands – which were missing several fingers and looked badly burned - shackled over his head to force him into a constant standing positon. Standing on hot coals, the crimson tint glowing eerily in the poor light. He was shirtless but his pants looked in infinitely better condition than Koray's, his head was hung with his white-gray hair hanging over his face but the torture seemed contained more to his chest. He also looked like he'd been used as a punching bag and his back was buried in bloody crisscrossed whip welts, a few burns too except his dad was… well, bigger than the others and James seemed to have taken advantage of this as his dad had numerous chunks of fatty flesh had been carved out of him.

Wyatt gagged, feeling sicker than he had all night. He forced it down though, he still had a job to do and that was aided by recalling his father had never liked him being squeamish. Instead he whipped out his wand, sending a bust of wind to blast the coals far away from his dad. The older man might've been asleep as he started to raise his head then as Wyatt approached him to get him down, conjuring a chair quickly as he didn't think his dad would be able to stand.

"Wy- Wyatt? What are you doing here? Wh- Oh my boy, your eye," his dad wondered in shock as Wyatt reached him, lashing out with a cathartic _Acuta_ to sever the chains holding him up, "You need to get out, go, save yourself. Why would you come back when you got free?"

"I never left," Wyatt informed him as he sat his dad down on the chair, his beady black eyes staring at him like he'd never seen him before, "I couldn't leave without saving you, saving everyone."

"Well that's ridiculous," his dad spat, surprising him and surprising him even more were the tears in his dad's eyes, "Screw everyone else, save yourself. Leave me, leave all of us! It's easier for you to escape alone, get _out_ of here."

"No, Dad," Wyatt insisted, starting to feel annoyed again. He'd never have thought his dad could possibly get on his nerves in this situation of all situations, "Since when did you care about leaving innocent people to suffer?"

"Since I want you to live!" his dad yelled at him, the tears growing in his eyes, "The only thing that's been keeping me sane is the knowledge you got away, that you and your sister were safe. Or at least not fucking _here_. I don't want you to selfless right now, I just want you to survive."

"Well you raised me better than that," Wyatt scoffed, folding his arms, "Since when did I ever do what you want anyway?"

"Never!"

"I can't believe you're mad I'm trying to save you, if my plan works and we all get out alive what-"

" _You_ came up with the escape plan?!" his father interrupted incredulously, "You need to stop doing that and save yourself."

"So because it's my plan it must automatically be bad?"

"Your ideas are usually pretty crazy."

"My plan is not crazy!" Wyatt insisted defensively even though it was a lie but that was beside the point.

"Alright then, what is this plan of yours?" his father questioned of him quite calmly, probably knowing full well that the answer would only prove his point.

"The plan is beside the point," Wyatt reiterated aloud to dodge the question, "What matters is for once, can't you just have a _little_ faith in me?"

"How can I have faith in you? You spend all your time sleeping or lounging around eating jelly beans-"

"Gummy worms! I lounge around eating _gummy worms_ not jelly beans, honestly."

"Whatever it is! The point is you're lazy, you insist on wasting your potential so why should I have faith in you? Just save yourself, Wyatt."

"I don't know, maybe because I'm trying?" Wyatt pointed out irritably, "And you might as well stop complaining because it's too late to just save myself, Marigold and I are in too deep. We've already taken out the guards and got the others-"

"Marigold is helping you? Ugh," his dad complained, rolling his eyes in disgust, "Now your plan has even less chance of success."

"What's wrong with Marigold?"

"He's a jerk and a coward."

"Maybe he just doesn't like you because you left him to die one time."

"If you're a staff member of a school you should be willing to die for the students," his father pointed out remorselessly, "Kids come first, you can't be selfish or you shouldn't be here."

"Well there's kids here too, Dad, you're not the only prisoner," Wyatt told him truthfully and his dad sighed heavily, closing his eyes.

"I just… I just want you to be safe, is that too much to ask?"

"Yes, yes it is. Also… you know I'm twenty-six, right?" Wyatt wondered, prompting his dad to open his eyes and make to answer but jolting in shock, "What?"

"Th- There's a were-"

"Oh, hey Sebastian," Wyatt offered as he turned to see the boy had finally returned, probably taking longer because of Pollux's lung damage thing making him slower to walk. He waved the kid over, "Sebastian's going to carry you to Marigold."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Wyatt confirmed brightly as his father continued to look at him like he'd gone insane.

"This is crazy, Wyatt, people don't ride around on werewolves."

"We live in crazy times."

"I'd rather walk."

"Alright then, get up and walk," Wyatt offered him calmly, knowing full well his father couldn't walk on his badly burned feet. His dad and Sebastian both glanced at those burned feet, his dad sighed.

"Fine."

"Okay, I'll help you up then when Sebastian's ready," Wyatt announced triumphantly and Sebastian turned around beside them, allowing him to more easily maneuver has dad onto his back, careful to try not aggravate his father's wounds as much as possible. Sebastian seemed to be doing okay though despite his dad being the biggest of the people who needed to be carried, he thought he looked more strained then he had for the others but he wasn't sure. At any rate, Sebastian just needed to get him back to the Hospital Wing as it was unlikely they'd make the smallest carry the heaviest.

"I don't like this," his father grumbled as they headed out of the cell, clinging to Sebastian in terror like he expected to fall off at any moment.

"Oh, get over it. Sebastian's the one who doing the hard part, and doing a great a great job I might add," Wyatt said, aiming the last at Sebastian who he gave an encouraging smile to that was returned. They were still walking fairly slowly though, "You doing okay?"

Sebastian nodded.

"Do you want to try running the rest of the way?" Wyatt asked, ignoring his father's horrified gasp while Sebastian merely cocked his head curiously, "You're going to have to run as fast as you can through the Inferi carrying people – probably not him but still – so it'd be good practice for you to see what it's like. Plus, the faster we do this the better."

" _What?!"_ his father shrieked.

Wyatt wasn't sure if it was in response to running now or the revelation it was to get through the Inferi and wouldn't know as Sebastian – seemingly taking his suggestion to heart – ran off. His dad's wail of terror as he rode off on a werewolf continued to echo in the empty halls of Hogwarts long after they'd left his sight, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. For some reason, he thought his dad would absolutely hate roller coasters.

He headed back to the Hospital Wing on foot, finding it strange to be casually walking through the corridors he'd spent the past few months incognito in. And also feeling saddened. He couldn't wait to leave but he also didn't want to abandon Hogwarts, the school that stood for so much and had had so many die to defend it in the last war. He impossibly wished they could take it with them somehow and not just leave it here to rot in the dark.

They'd free it eventually, they _had_ to win the war after but… still. He supposed he was getting ahead of himself though, after all they hadn't even successfully _left_ the castle yet. Things had gone okay so far but the moment of truth was coming up, whether Marigold would retain his mind or not. And even if he _did_ , it still remained to be seen whether they could make it through the Inferi and make it back to Gray. He had no idea how far the anti-apparation area spread… He defended himself to his dad but he was right, it was crazy and this could still fail horribly.


	9. IIX: Sacrifice

_**Thanks to:** Guest, Colin Creevey, Guest and ChakraKitty for reviewing!_

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Wyatt made it back to the Hospital Wing, ending his train of thought. The prisoners were looking in better shape, Byron's bruises had been healed up and aside from a few scars looked a lot better. Pollux was sitting beside him – in between Byron and Koray's bed – as was his sister who'd returned, they also looked healed and were talking amongst themselves. He also noted they had their wands, Koray's was also sitting on his bedside table. Koray seemed to be sleeping but was under the covers so Wyatt couldn't see how much he'd been healed, he'd assume he was doing better though. His father was on the other side of Koray being treated by Marigold behind a curtain, Sebastian was lying down resting. Wyatt opened his mouth to ask how much time he thought he'd need before Marigold pulled back the curtain, now wearing a kind of satchel for some reason.

"There you are!" Marigold complained in exasperation when he saw him and came over, behind him Wyatt was glad to see his dad's hands were now bandaged though he looked grumpy, "Honestly, I'm working as fast as I can and you're just taking a leisurely stroll."

"Hey, I'm sure he came as fast as he could!" his dad spoke up in his defense which was… just weird, Marigold threw his father a scowl before taking has arm and moving him further away from his father to try be more out of earshot.

"So while you were taking your sweet time, I had to tell everyone about the plan and they think its nuts but the consensus is agreement."

"Really?" Wyatt wondered in surprise.

"Of course," Pollux spoke up and his sister nodded in agreement, "Pretty sure they'll kill us soon already if we don't just die, a longshot is better than no shot. I'm sure my dad would feel the same."

"Anything is better than James," Byron confirmed in a whisper.

"Yes," Marigold muttered as they essentially confirmed his agreement but pulled him even further away until they were in the corridor outside the Hospital Wing, definitely out of earshot now, "So I've stabilized everybody to the best of my ability in the time frame we have. And I do mean just that, they're not properly healed by a long shot and _will_ need further treatment and long term support. Are you _sure_ Gray has Healers? Preferably experienced ones not just kids since I'm going to be unable to do much for a few days, they won't remain stable for that long and some of them _need_ to be properly seen to-"

"We have Healers, I _promise_ ," Wyatt assured him, halting Marigold's fast paced concerned rant, "Real experienced Healers not just kids."

"Well good, hopefully they don't suck," Marigold stated with a slight breath of relief, he patted his satchel, "I know you said Gray has supplies but I stole all of the Potion stock left anyway and I had Auriga grab all the spare potion ingredients too from the supply cupboard too, I don't see the point in leaving it all in their hands and you never know when you'll need it."

"Marigold, I didn't know you were such a thief," Wyatt wondered in amused surprise and the Head Healer averted his eyes as his face flushed scarlet.

"I- I don't _usually_ do it, it's been a long time- The Shadows are evil, they basically stole this stuff anyway since they took Hogwarts by force so- Well it's not like they deserve this stuff-"

"It's okay, I wasn't complaining," Wyatt pointed out and Marigold nodded though he remained ashamedly avoiding eye contact, "It's actually pretty smart."

"Well erm… anyway, basically I'm saying its err… time for… um… well you know, the whole plan and… ev- everything. I can't… I can't think of anything else I need to do," Marigold stammered out, swallowing fearfully and Wyatt nodded in understanding, "Oh, except Sebastian's wand. Need that."

"Oh, I have that here," Wyatt realized and rifled in his pockets, quickly handing over Sebastian's wand. Marigold shakily put it into the outside pocket and Wyatt took a breath, "So how do you want to do this?"

"W- Well I erm… we should… we should go into another room," Marigold said, struggling to get the words out like he didn't want to be saying them, "I mean, it makes logical sense. We still don't know if this is even going work and if… if I… if I- I don't keep my mind, we don't want me to be able to go berserk on the others. And um… I'd prefer privacy anyway."

"Okay, I'll go get Sebastian," Wyatt offered gently and Marigold nodded mutely, still gazing off fearfully.

"Okay."

Wyatt headed back into the Hospital Wing, leaving Marigold to look petrified. Sebastian was still there, fidgeting anxiously now but he detoured to go to his dad. He might as well give him his wand while he thought of it, he put his father's wand down on his bedside table.

"You know he's not going to do it, right?" his dad pointed out, "He's a selfish coward - pretty typical of Slytherins - he's not going to sacrifice his humanity. The kid will be on his own and he can't carry everybody, you should save the kids and yourself since you can be a lizard-"

"Dad, can you just wait like ten minutes? At least try to be nice to the only person who had nothing to gain and everything to lose from helping, you can say I told you so then or apologize for being wrong," Wyatt complained at him irritably, not seeing the point of causing friction in the group. They were on the same side, what else mattered right now? They should give each other the benefit of the doubt, they needed to have faith in each other or they'd fall apart. He didn't care what else his father had to say on the matter and instead turned on his heel, walking back over to Sebastian, "Come on."

Sebastian somehow managed to look even more terrified then Marigold as he plodded along with him, his head hung low. Probably not keen infecting someone with lycanthropy but what choice did they have? His dad had been right about Sebastian being unable to carry all of them, he didn't even think Marigold could've done that. Actually, he was kind of concerned they'd be able to carry everyone even _with_ Marigold. Marigold was very spindly, he was tall for sure but… well, he was a stick, and his limbs were twigs. They made it back to Marigold and he shakily led them down the corridor – they had guards unconscious in the closest room – to an empty room, Sebastian whimpered unhappily and Marigold started pacing frantically like he was trying to calm himself.

"Okay, okay, okay… okay, okay," Marigold started rambling as he paced.

"Take your time," Wyatt offered gently, not wanting to push him.

"We only have a limited amount of time!" Marigold shrieked.

"I know but just… when you're ready."

"Okay, okay, okay," Marigold continued, looking like he was trying very hard but failing miserably to not look panicked, "Okay, okay... So when… If it works, I'm thinking I'll carry the adults and Auriga then Sebastian can have Pol and Byron. It'd be good if he had all the kids but Pol is pretty tall and Auriga can make sure her dad stays on, I've told her what to do and you can just be a lizard on one of our heads since you'll weigh nothing. We should try it first anyway, if it doesn't we can change it up."

"Okay," Wyatt agreed slowly, he thought it made sense. Or at least was a good starting point.

"Okay, okay, okay," Marigold muttered, taking another deep breath and pausing in his pacing in front of him. He then shakily stripped down to his tighty whiteys, neatly folding his clothes and putting them into the main section of the satchel, from how deep his arm went into the bag it had to be magically expanded, "Don't- Don't want to ruin all my clothes."

"Sure," Wyatt said quietly and Marigold swallowed, looking like he might throw up. He didn't, instead pointing to the main section of the satchel.

"So… So this is where all the supplies are, the potions are on the left and the raw ingredients are on the right if you happen to need anything, there's also a zipper on the inside which is where my clothes and things are and what I had of Sebastian's since he was staying long term in the Hospital Wing so I doubt you'll need to look in there. After all, you're going to have to carry this while I'm… you know," Marigold explained and Wyatt nodded, the Head Healer then pointed to the pocket on the front, "In here I've put Sebastian's wand, pajamas and my own belongings for when we… turn back, werewolves need bedrest so we probably won't need proper clothing though if for some reason we do, there's a spare change of clothes for each of us in that zipper pocket I mentioned before."

"Alright," Wyatt nodded in understanding and Marigold then turned the satchel around, pointing to a zipped on the other side.

"And this is the most important one, it's where I have my wand because I'm going to need to use it to stabilize Sebastian when he turns back," Marigold continued, actually opening it and showing him a vial of purple potion, "Then this is a Powerful Strengthening Solution. I think and I hope I'll have the strength to heal him after I turn back myself but if I don't, you _have_ to give me this. Werewolves burn through it quickly but I won't need long, its vital for Sebastian's survival though so when we transform back you need to give me my wand and this if I need it. In case something happens to me, I've also tried to write instructions for your Gray healers on Sebastian's care so there's that."

"Okay, I got it," Wyatt confirmed as Marigold put the vial back and handed him the satchel, it was pretty light but putting it on he felt like a massive weight was now on his shoulders.

"Okay," Marigold said, shakily stepping back, "Okay. So… So after… after I'm bit, you two should wait outside for a few minutes and listen. If… If it's quiet then I probably kept my mind so come check and we'll move forwards, if it's not then… well, I don't know. Just do what you can and don't worry about leaving me."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Wyatt admitted quietly and Marigold nodded, his face looking paler then the dead right now.

"Okay," Marigold shuddered and his eyes shifted to Sebastian, "Okay, Sebastian, just make it quick."

He outstretched his hand missing a finger to him, stretching so far it looked as if he was trying to stand as far away from that hand as possible. He then squeezed his eyes shut and looked away, he was shaking so badly his knees were knocking together. Sebastian whimpered, looking at his hand unhappily while his eyes shone with tears. He didn't bite.

"Sebastian, come on," Wyatt urged him desperately, "I know you don't want to hurt him but you have to do this, it's the only way and we don't have time for this."

"Yes, do it!" Marigold reiterated, stretching out his hand even more to the point Wyatt was worried he would dislocate it, "I'm sorry I'm a wimp and I don't want to watch but I swear I'm ready, just stop dragging it out! It has to be done. Think of the others, Sebastian, if you don't bite me they'll all die! Think of yourself even, if you don't do this the Shadows will put you into their werewolf army and make you do a lot worse. _Please_."

Sebastian turned his head away with his eyes squeezed shut and just as Wyatt was going to try to say something else to convince him, he turned back and bit into Marigold's outstretched hand. It was the gentlest, most pitiful excuse for a bite he'd ever seen and Marigold jolted but didn't scream. Sebastian let go, hanging his head miserably while Marigold shakily pulled his hand back to himself and stared. Diagonally across his palm and back of his hand were now a line of large red dots, Marigold wiped away the crimson dribbling from the wound but more started to trickle down. Wyatt could practically see his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed at the bite, blinking back tears.

"Now… Now you go," Marigold breathed barely audibly, "That's the plan."

"Come on, Sebastian," Wyatt offered to the werewolf who headed out with his head hung, he swallowed and glanced back to Marigold who was still cradling his bitten hand in his other one and gazing at it with tears starting to escape his eyes, "I'll um… I'll see you in a minute..."

Marigold merely nodded mutely, sparing a glance for the moon out of the window before slumping to the ground. Wyatt guiltily left him there as the healer's shoulders started to shake from crying, sealing the door behind him and leaving him to his fate. Sebastian was sitting with his back to it, his head hung low. He looked on the verge of tears himself.

"Hey Sebastian, its okay. Marigold's fine," Wyatt told him gently and as if to prove him wrong, Marigold's sobbing became audible from the other side of the door. Sebastian glanced at him, "Okay so he's a little upset but the important thing is that you shouldn't feel bad, it's not your fault. He agreed and it was my plan, if you want to blame anyone blame me-"

Wyatt was cut off as Marigold's hopeless cries turned to earsplitting screams of pain, somehow behind all that he could practically hear the wrenching as his body was torn up by the violent transformation. Even though he couldn't see Marigold he closed his eyes as if to try block it out as the screams of anguish turned to howls of agony.

He felt his stomach churning as in the face of reality the weight of his entire plan came crashing down on him, what on Earth was he doing? What was he thinking?! He was hurting someone, he was destroying someone's life just to save his dad and a handful of others including one who wanted and one who seemed likely to die anyway. He didn't even know if it would work! Wolfsbane had never been preemptively given to someone before because no one was batshit insane enough to _want_ to become a werewolf. _You monster_.

Wyatt opened his eyes shakily, feeling tears behind them. He knew he was a perfectly flawed lizard being, he could be lazy, he could be dumb, he could put his foot in his mouth, he could be selfish even but one thing he thought he'd never be was a monster. Until now.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts it took him a second to realize that it was now silent, Marigold had stopped screaming. The transformation was over, it was done. Wyatt tried to swallow the freshly formed ball of negative feelings, it was too late to turn back now and the clock was ticking. If he survived this he could kick himself then, right now he should probably go find out whether Marigold's mind was intact or not. If not, he'd already destroyed his life in vain.

"Marigold?" Wyatt called out as he approached the door, Sebastian plodding solemnly along beside him, "Marigold, can you hear me? Are you okay? If you can hear me make a sound."

 _Thump!_

"Okay…" Wyatt said slowly, realizing it wasn't a perfect indicator on whether his mind was intact but if he _had_ lost it he'd probably be going nuts in there so it was maybe probably good? "Okay, I'm coming in now."

Wyatt took a breath and unlocked the door cautiously, he may not be able to be turned into a werewolf but he could still be injured by one. It was still quiet, probably a good sign unless werewolves were smart enough to try ambushing people. He pushed open the door and crept inside, finding himself immediately greeted by the sight of large white wolf sitting in the corner gazing out of the window.

"Marigold?" Wyatt questioned once more and the werewolf turned its head to him, contemplating him with its now golden eyes. It didn't attack though, "So how… how are you feeling?"

Marigold looked at him in what he swore was an incredulous expression before awkwardly shrugging his… shoulders? Were they still called that? At any rate he supposed open ended questions weren't the best to ask now the man could no longer speak English.

"I'm sorry, I mean um… it worked, right? You're still you?" Wyatt apologized and asked instead, Marigold gazed at him for a minute before nodding slowly and Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief, "It worked then. I guess there's nothing else for it then but to… well to go."

Marigold nodded, standing up as he did so. Like Wyatt had predicted he was much larger then Sebastian, unfortunately also like Wyatt had predicted he was very bony. Hopefully he'd still have strength enough to carry a lot of people. Marigold growled abruptly, causing Wyatt to jolt in both fear and surprise but the former Healer merely jerked his head to the door.

"You… want to get going?" Wyatt guessed and Marigold nodded his head vigorously, "Sorry, I was just thinking. I know we're still on a time limit."

Wyatt stepped aside and Marigold plodded along by him, walking a little awkwardly as if he was still getting used to using all four legs like that… he probably was. Wyatt could only hope he learned fast as he followed the former Healer out to where Sebastian was waiting, now facing them but still looking positively miserable. He'd have to deal with that after he turned back and was capable of holding a proper conversation again, he didn't want the poor child to be miserable.

He went over the plan again as they walked just to make sure they were on the same page and give himself something to break the silence as he walked in between the two unhappy werewolves, Marigold did seem to be getting the hang of walking on all fours at least. They reached the Hospital Wing and everyone seemed pretty much the same, his dad looked surprised upon seeing Marigold, Byron fearful and Pollux attempted an encouraging smile. The professor was still unconscious and Auriga's expression remained unchanged, poor girl looked traumatized.

Then came the process of getting everyone onto the werewolves, he started with Sebastian since he'd done it before. Byron – who was now clothed - did not seem very comfortable with being touched but he was still light and easy to get onto Sebastian, Pollux easily climbed on behind him unaided and Sebastian walked around a bit so they could all get used to it and so Wyatt could make sure he could handle it. Wyatt also transfigured the clothing on their lower limbs to armor so to repel or at least lessen the damage Inferi could do if they clawed at them, unfortunately he couldn't do it to Sebastian's fur but he thought it was better than nothing.

He then moved onto Marigold. The Astronomy Professor was also clothed and bandaged, while he was no longer blabbering aimlessly he was clearly in bad shape. In the light his skin looked ashen and he was shivering from the fever even in sleep, he could only trust Marigold and hope he lasted until he could get proper treatment. Wyatt levitated him on since he was an unconscious deadweight, Auriga climbed on without being asked and Wyatt had Marigold walk around a little to get used to it since he hadn't carried people back like Sebastian did and make sure the professor didn't fall off. And finally his dad, who was worryingly the largest and heaviest of the bunch.

"I told you so," Wyatt whispered to his father – also clothed and bandaged – as he helped him climb onto Marigold behind Auriga, his dad only gave a derisive snort in response. He just about fit but Marigold bowed slightly under the extra weight, the former Healer walked around for a bit and seemed to adjust somewhat but he was still noticeably less agile and more strained then Sebastian, "We can try shifting people around-"

"No!" Auriga wailed and clung to her unconscious father.

"Don't we have to move fast before James notices the guards are gone?" Byron wondered fearfully.

"It'll probably just be the same no matter what way you divide us," his dad pointed out.

"It's the same weight distribution after all," Pollux agreed though he was looking at Wyatt's father as he said it, both Sebastian and Marigold nodded along seemingly in agreement. Wyatt sighed.

"Really? No one wants to at least try?" Wyatt complained in exasperation.

"It took long enough just to do this," his dad stated solemnly and Pollux jerked his head towards the clock as if to prove it, it had taken over half an hour.

"Well for my sanity can we at least try one thing? Auriga, just go onto Sebastian real quick to see how it goes," Wyatt insisted, wondering if the others didn't get they'd have to move fast through the Inferi. Auriga scowled at him unhappily, "Look, just try it okay?! Your dad will be fine for a minute and you can back if it doesn't help."

"I got him," his dad assured her gently as she reluctantly left her father to get on behind her brother, she was the healthiest so moving her was easiest. Unfortunately it only seemed to make things worse, Marigold still seemed strained just less so while Sebastian also showed sign of strain, "I told you so."

"Well everyone's smarter then Wyatt!" Wyatt complained, throwing his arms up in exasperation and sighing. He was just going to have to hope they would still be fast enough, "Fine, Auriga, go back to your dad and we'll head down to the entrance."

Auriga went back over to Marigold and Wyatt quickly did the same transfiguration charms to protect her and their fathers, he wished the Featherlight Charm worked on humans. After that there was nothing for it but to trudge down to the entrance, all of them unanimously in foreboding silence. Now that it was far too late to go back on it, Wyatt hated his plan. This was not a good plan, this was insane and he could very well be leading everyone to a grisly death. What had he been thinking? Did he even think? What had possessed everyone else to agree? He shouldn't be allowed to make plans, if he survived the night it should be outlawed. They reached the entrance and came to a halt, Wyatt took a shaky breath. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt more on edge in his life.

"Okay everyone," Wyatt began and slapped his hands together with false enthusiasm, trying desperately to calm himself and make his heart beat because he was pretty sure it had seized up. He stood in front of the others, all faces looking just as nervous and fearful. Except Koray, the Astronomy Professor was still sleeping peacefully. He supposed at least if he _was_ leading everyone to their deaths he'd die too so he wouldn't have to live with it for very long, that wasn't very comforting, "So I'm going to open the door and you're just going to have to make a run for it or hang on tight depending whether you're a werewolf or not, the Inferi are going to be everywhere and they're going to attack you but we should be faster so they shouldn't be able to do anything – no serious murdery damage anyway - as long as you don't stop running. Seriously, soon as the door opens run through them in the direction opposite the forest and _don't stop running._ No matter what, do you understand?"

"What about you?" his dad asked worriedly while the two werewolves nodded their heads.

"I'll turn back into a lizard and ride on someone's head," Wyatt answered dismissively, escaping by himself was easy anyway. It was the others that were the issue, a part of him wondered if maybe he _should_ have just left them all.

"If we know any fiery spells should we try fend off the Inferi?" Pollux asked.

"No, they're too close and we'd be more at risk of burning ourselves," Wyatt shot him down quickly, the last thing they needed was to accidentally light the werewolves on fire. He also feared damaging or killing any of them would alert the Shadows, unlike human guards they were under someone's control after all, "If anyone has any second thoughts and wants to stay now's your last chance to speak up."

Silence. Wyatt was surprised there was no takers for a second judging from the anxiety on everyone's faces, recalling the conditions he found them in his surprise waned however. Maybe the risk of death of Inferi was better than the guarantee of torture by James, Wyatt would certainly make the same decision in their positon.

"Alright then, everyone ready," Wyatt said resignedly and turned to the door.

Trying to brace himself both mentally and physically as he raised his wand, forcing the massive double doors open magically. He then leaped up, transforming back into a lizard as the two werewolves bolted. He'd wanted to land on Sebastian who wasn't so burdened but got Marigold instead as the kid had ran by him too fast, he landed on Marigold's snowy white fur instead and clambered onto his head as he tore out into the night.

Wyatt was simultaneously greeted by a slap of icy wind to the face and the stench of the dead, the corpses raised their heads but Marigold was already charging through the sea of rotting bodies. He used the first one as a stepping stone to launch on top of them, they were crammed together essentially shoulder to shoulder so made for a platform to run across. Albeit an awkward and uneven one, Wyatt heard crunching as some shoulder bones broke until the weight briefly bounding across them and the bodies crumbled a little as they were forced downwards as the werewolf leaped off. He glanced away and saw Sebastian was successfully doing the same, he was flying along.

The Inferi resisted of course, he could see them trying to bite or claw at the werewolf racing over them but Sebastian was so fast many didn't manage to get a hit in before he was gone. Of course some did but nothing seemed too serious or hindering though did hear the occasionally yelp of pain though he was hearing more from Marigold, Sebastian was doing a great job remaining unfazed though. In fact, he was getting increasingly further ahead of them... or were they just falling behind? This prompted him to look back to Marigold who he was still riding on. Marigold wasn't doing so good, he couldn't run as fast with the increased weight and so more blows were landing which turn jolted him, slowing him down and allowing even more hits.

Marigold yowled suddenly as an Inferi took a nasty bite out of his front right leg, visibly tearing out a chunk and throwing Marigold so much off balance he stumbled back down onto the ground. Auriga shrieked in terror while his father cast a fiery spell around them to fend off the Inferi who leaped at them, he heard Marigold's howl of pain again and smelled burning flesh suddenly. Marigold managed to right himself running along the Inferi again but his sides were now smoldering from painful looking burns and he continued mewling in pain, though they'd probably cauterized some of the wounds. They weren't going to make it, the end of the Inferi swarm was nowhere in sight. Wyatt had that thought with such cold clarity, his panic ironically gone despite it being the worst situation. Sebastian was but Marigold couldn't, he just wasn't going to be able to go fast enough with so much weight. He was going to fall and his three passengers would also perish, how could he stop it?

"It's no use, Wyatt, we're too heavy!" his dad called out to him.

 _No shit_ , Wyatt thought to himself and wished he could voice as much, instead settling for rolling his eyes- well eye at it. Pointing out the obvious wasn't going to save them, they needed to be thinking of solutions right now.

"I love you, son," his dad breathed in a voice thick with emotion and Wyatt spun around in surprise at such a bizarre statement to hear from his dad, especially at a time like this, "Please live."

Wyatt spun just in time to see his father throw himself off of Marigold, he tried to scream out a 'no' but he just made a strangled lizard sound that would've been futile even if he was human. His dad fell into the Inferi and was instantly torn up, his screams pierced the night while Wyatt could only helplessly observe his final moments of pain as they ripped his flesh apart with their bare hands.


	10. IIX: Darkness Into Daybreak

_**Author's Note:** This one and the last are reuploads before anyone asks, long story short: don't try to add an author's note with your phone. And make sure you read the last chapter, this was supposed to be one with the last one but it was two long so I had to split it and I thought I left enough time between them to not confuse people into skipping one but apparently not. Have a good hopefully better then mine day_

 _ **Thanks to much to:** RandomGerman for reviewing!_

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Wyatt couldn't move, he couldn't blink, he couldn't even take his eyes off the spot his dad had been killed in even as they moved so far away it just blended into the dark mass of dark creatures in the darkest of nights. It only barely even dawned on the peripheral of his thoughts that his father's sacrifice had worked, Marigold was able to run away now he was unburdened by his father's weight. He should probably see how they were doing but he just kept staring at the spot, even though now it was just a distant dark void where his father had been while his dying screams continued to reverberate within the confines of his skull.

It wasn't until he felt the moment of Marigold slowing that his attention reverted back to the people he'd been trying to save, the people his dad had died to save because his own stupid plan was stupid. They were coming out of the herd of Inferi, the ones closest ran after them but stopped a few feet from the others like they'd been programmed to not move too far or whatever way it worked. Sebastian and Marigold were both breathless, panting heavily as they gradually came to a stop on the hillside. Both were also injured, it was clear as the crimson stained the fur where they were hurt and Marigold was still burned.

Wyatt leaped off Marigold and transformed back into a human, testing apparation and groaning irritably as all his body did was tingle uncomfortably. They were out of range of the Inferi but still in the range of the anti-apparation wards so he couldn't leave, he couldn't apparate them to safety. This was it. The end. They were done for. His plan was stupid and everyone was stupid for following him, his dad had died for _nothing_.

"What now?" Auriga asked him fearfully and Wyatt just shrugged in response as he paced idly, not even looking at them.

"Can you apparate?" Pollux inquired instead, much to his irritation. He didn't want to deal with this right now, he just wanted to be alone.

"No, we're still in the anti-apparation wards," Wyatt answered more icily then he knew he should, a rational part of his mind trying to point out his attitude wasn't helpful and just a result of his grief. He wondered if anyone besides Marigold was aware he'd just lost his dad.

"What now then?" Byron asked, every syllable quivering with terror. These idiots were still depending on him, they were all screwed.

"Shouldn't we just keep going until we get out of the range?" Pollux inquired yet again, determined to just be rational and helpful apparently.

Wyatt stopped pacing and sighed heavily, _he_ should really be the one trying to be rational and helpful. He didn't have time to wallow in his misery, he'd dragged them this far and it was certainly too late to back out now. He blinked back tears he hadn't realized had formed and glanced back to them, all were looking at him rather expectantly.

"Yes, we just need to keep going until we get out of their wards," Wyatt spoke up, trying to sound more determined then he felt, "We'll have to stop periodically so I can test it, try go as fast as you can so we can cover as much ground as possible."

"I'm sorry about your dad by the way," Byron offered timidly, making Wyatt freeze on his way back to Marigold, "What he did was pretty amazing."

"Yeah," Pollux agreed and his sister nodded but Wyatt merely swallowed, he _really_ couldn't deal with this now. He couldn't think about his dad.

"We need to keep moving," Wyatt managed quietly, on that note transforming back into a lizard and landing on one of the werewolves.

So they headed off, the werewolves bounding along and he did notice painfully that without his dad Marigold was definitely running along easier. They did stop periodically as Wyatt had wanted to test apparation but he was having no luck, the wards went rather far apparently and they were running out of time. It was the summer so the nights were short and the sun rose fairly early, it had been a long night already and they were definitely into the early hours of the next day. He knew he should really be more focused, after all they weren't out of the woods yet and the Shadows would inevitably notice their escape and go after them or go ahead to ambush them or something but he felt distracted. It didn't help as a lizard now he lost an entire side of his vision, he had to keep walking in a circle on Marigold's head to look around which felt kinda awkward.

He didn't see anything though and he took to checking quickly with a spell for people whenever they paused so he could check the apparation not just looking with his eyes, so far no sign of anyone. Not even Specters but he kind of expected that, he had observed a lot of use of them as a spy and this last week… well they seemed to have even more limited use than usual, he wasn't sure if James in particular just sucked with them or it was because the Shadow Master was a little of the rails but he wouldn't complain. He couldn't cast a Patronus after all, not a corporeal one anyway. Charms were hard, give him something to Transfigure any day. With a sad pang, his mind was back to his dad.

Out of nowhere, Sebastian suddenly came to an abrupt halt and started winging unhappily. Marigold slowed to a stop beside him and Wyatt scowled in confusion, generally Marigold was the one who stopped first either because Wyatt had or because he seemed to have a good pattern of stopping periodically which also gave a brief reprieve for the werewolves to catch their breath. It didn't seem like long enough since their last stop and they certainly didn't whine about it.

"What is your problem?" Wyatt demanded of him as he transformed back into a human, trying not to let his frustration at the sudden stop bleed into his voice. Of course Sebastian couldn't answer, he just kept looking at him then looking ahead and winging. Marigold sniffed the air and did the same, Wyatt looked ahead – they had the high ground so he could see pretty far and it was just open fields, there were mountains off to the side and woods much further off - but he didn't see anything except worryingly the darkness was starting to bleed out of the night, "I don't see anything, does anyone else see anything?"

"No," the non-werewolves chorused as they glanced back, except the professor who remained unconscious.

"So what is your problem?" Wyatt repeated, knowing full well they couldn't answer beyond continuing the same behavior but he wasn't sure what they expected him to do about something they were nowhere near close enough to deal with if it existed at all.

"Professor Ashain told us that werewolves' senses are better than humans," Pollux chimed up and the werewolves nodded furiously, "Maybe they notice something we don't? Like they can smell something."

"Oh no, it's James!" Byron blurted out, his face draining of every shred of color it had, "It's got to be him, he's up ahead and they can smell him!"

"It's not James!"

"It _might_ be James," Wyatt admitted at the same time as Pollux denied it, Byron started hyperventilating.

"You really think James personally is going to be after us when he was too scared of werewolves to even be in the same castle as one transformed?" Pollux insisted determinedly and Byron gave a shaky shrug, "He'd send other people after us probably but not himself."

"Maybe," Byron mumbled.

"Well whatever it is, we should keep moving," Wyatt spoke up and Sebastian shook his head, whining again, "Look, I can't see whatever you smell because we're too far away from it. I can deal with whatever's up ahead but if we're this far away from it, it'll take me ages to walk to it and we're losing moonlight. Let's get a bit closer and-"

Sebastian yowled and shook his head determinedly.

"You can sense further then humans can, even if they have enchantments up they won't go this far so we can get close-"

Sebastian yowled again and continued to shake his head.

"Marigold, help me out here?" Wyatt sighed and glanced back to the former healer who fidgeted and glanced at Sebastian before shaking his head also, he opened his mouth to argue some more but closed it. Was there any point arguing? He didn't feel up to it and they didn't have time for it, especially if he was going to have to walk all the way to some far off distant ambush, "Fine. You guys wait here and I'll go investigate, are you happy now?"

"You can't go off alone!" Pollux cried and he saw the kids looking horrified though the werewolves nodded, "What if something happens to you? We'll be trapped, you're the only one left who can apparate."

"James is going to get us," Byron whispered, starting to hyperventilate again and he looked on the verge of tears.

"James is not going to get you," Wyatt insisted, running a hand through his hair. This was kind of ridiculous, "How about Marigold and I check it out then? That way I'm not alone and it'll be faster traveling with him, he can even lead me directly to whatever it is they can smell and the rest of you can hide out in a cave while we're gone. Does that sound better?"

"I don't know why we have to stop at all," Pollux complained while there was hesitant nods from the others, except the professor who continued to sleep and Byron who was still seemingly trying to calm himself.

"Neither do I. Come on. And try to breathe, Byron, deep breaths."

Wyatt led them towards the mountain area where he was sure there'd be caves, doing a check with his wand to look for signs of enemies inside said caves but they were clear. He picked just the closest one as he wanted to get moving again as soon as possible, putting up some basic protective enchantments as an added safety net for while he'd be gone. He then had Auriga and Pollux get off the werewolves before helping Byron and the professor down, he figured it was better if Sebastian could also rest.

"I don't like this," Auriga whispered fearfully while Pollux was trying to calm Byron, "I don't think we should split up."

"I don't like it either but we'll be back as soon as we can, sit tight and come on, Marigold," Wyatt said as he strolled outside, the larger white wolf following nervously, "I hope this is worth it."

He transformed back into a lizard, the former healer taking off the second he landed on his back. He figured a lizard was lighter so faster for Marigold and gave him the element of surprise, on the downside he couldn't use his wand to look for people. Marigold seemed to know where he was going at least, occasionally sniffing the air and altering his direction slightly. When they drew close to the wooded area however, was when he started to slow down and then Wyatt heard it. A sound he had very much not expected to hear, not from the Shadows anyway.

It was a growl, a werewolf's growl. That was why Sebastian had been so concerned, if they could smell it then it could probably smell them or would if they got closer. Admittedly Wyatt hadn't thought they'd set up werewolves as part of an ambush, clever buggers though as a plus this meant this was probably close to the end of the apparation wards. He was going to have to deal with them, he saw movement in the trees a split second before he saw a glowing pair of golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.

Wyatt leaped off Marigold while two Shadows jumped down from the trees and a werewolf charged for the former healer, he grabbed the side of a tree and pushed off from it to propel himself behind one of the Shadows – who only had eyes for Marigold – so he could transform back unnoticed. He stunned the closest one in the back while the other one fired what looked like a spell to bind Marigold with ropes, Marigold managed to dodge it. However, he failed to dodge the massive lump of a werewolf that leaped out of the trees at him, slashing at him with his claws and pinning him down. Marigold yowled in pain as the large cocoa colored werewolf – who was almost twice his size - kept him down and tore into his shoulder with his huge jaws.

Wyatt made to help him but the second Shadow had seen him and engaged him in a duel, he was forced to throw up a Shield Charm to defend himself from whatever the other man had thrown at him. The man had already fired a second spell, Wyatt had to throw himself out of the way to avoid that one and into a roll which he came out of to send a spell of his own back at the Shadow. The Shadow dodged that one effortlessly which was good because Wyatt hadn't wanted to hit him, he'd wanted to hit the tree behind him. The branches came to life in an instant and the man cried out in shock as the tree grabbed him from behind, his wand was forced from his hand though his head had smashed into the tree rather violently, more than Wyatt had wanted.

The man – who Wyatt thought he recognized as one of the Hogwarts guards he'd taken out earlier - went limp but he didn't have time to ponder his fate so he had to turn his attention back to Marigold, the former healer managed to free himself from beneath the other werewolf but still looked like he was losing. The larger werewolf just kept biting and slashing him with his claws, Marigold was mostly just trying to avoid with mixed success and all attempts to fight back seemed feeble. Really it seemed to be toying with Marigold who despite being a werewolf, seemed absolutely clueless how to utilize the strengths of one and wasn't used to this kind of confrontation. Actually, Wyatt got the impression Marigold was probably unused to _any_ confrontation that wasn't verbal.

Wyatt raised his wand to help and froze momentarily, catching sight of a Specter's orbs of endless darkness. He swallowed but returned his attention to Marigold, that could wait until he stopped Marigold from being dead. He quickly cast a spell to release the Specter the tree held before launching a Blasting Curse at the enemy werewolf, there was a yowl of pain and he was thrown back into the tree which grabbed him instead. Not that it would hold that thing as well as it had a human and he couldn't stun a werewolf, the large beast was already struggling violently against branches starting to crack from the pressure.

"Must I do _everything_ myself?" a familiar voice complained and Wyatt spun in panic, seeing the eldest son of Harry Potter was now standing there. A cocky look on his freckled face as he rolled his dark brown eyes, maybe an earned arrogance as his wand was already in hand and an ominous fiery black spell was speeding towards Wyatt.

It was all Wyatt could do to throw his body out of the way, so close to failing to avoid it that he felt the heat of the jet black fire on his cheek. He raised his wand to fight James and heard a howl of agony, he made to glance back and barely noticed on the peripheral of his vision that it had hit Marigold instead before he spotted another spell James had fired on the other side of his peripheral vision. This one he ducked but James had already fired another, Wyatt quickly countered it with a Shield Charm but he was nonetheless afraid. James was good. There Wyatt was panting while James hadn't even broken a sweat or moved a single step, the corners of his mouth turned up and his eyes glittered with sadistic delight at whatever pain his spell had caused Marigold.

Wyatt lashed out at him with _Acuta_ while he was – maybe? Hopefully? – distracted but James countered it with ease sending sparks flying, slashing back with one of his own so violent that it forced Wyatt back even though he repelled it. He was briefly distracted by a snapping behind him, alerting him to the fact the werewolf was now free. He knew they had a werewolf army, why had it never occurred to him that they might use any of them?

He heard another yowl of pain from Marigold telling him the beast was targeting the former healer but couldn't do anything more as James had fired another spell at him, forcing him to slam up another Shield Charm for protection to send it bouncing off. James was already twirling his wand upwards in massive swings to use a Wind Charm, causing an updraft that was only powerful enough to blow the leaves off the trees. Pretty useless unless he also did-

Wyatt cursed mentally as James cast a second spell, one that transfigured the leaves to acid to rain agony down upon them. He at least had time to slam his wand up, twirling it frantically and casting a repelling charm to defend himself from the drops of pain. The werewolves were not so lucky and he heard both of them crying out in pain, of course as a downside Wyatt was completely open for attack while he had to keep his wand up for protection for a few seconds while they fell so he'd have to dodge physically. James was already going for another spell though he didn't direct it at him, instead aiming for the ground in front of Wyatt.

Wyatt instinctively jumped up into the air and with good reason, the ground regurgitated a sea of sharp spikes. He heard more cries of pain from both werewolves and noticed the unconscious Shadows being skewered by them, one penetrating the skull of the one Wyatt had stunned. Did James really not care for the safety of his own people caught up in his spell work? He could only assume not in the fractions of seconds he had to think as he aimed his wand downwards since gravity was pulling him back, he transfigured the spikes to harmless pieces of sponge.

Landing safely, Wyatt had no time for a reprieve as James cast a spell of his own at the sponge. One that set off a chain reaction of causing them to violently explode like miniature Blasting Curses or those muggle things… bombs? Wyatt jumped again, this time jabbing his wand at the ground and casting a spell to make him spring upwards way beyond the height of a normal jump. Sailing skyward in the dangerously dawn-like sky, he could look to the werewolves who were behind him since he felt Marigold was in dire need of help and helping him would also stop Wyatt from having to fight off a werewolf at the same time as James.

He was apparently wrong however, the werewolves had seemingly made their way to the edge of the now minefield. Marigold was safe, the other werewolf was frantically running to avoid the encroaching explosions. He lunged towards safety but Marigold jumped up himself, shoving him backwards and a look of horror crossed his face as the werewolf was thrown into the explosion. There was a scream of pain and pieces of the werewolf – now human once more – were scattered, he saw Marigold throw up but he was already falling.

Wyatt was about to cast a spell to slow his descendant to the now safe ground but his concern for Marigold had cost him as he'd taken his eyes of James, the Shadow who had not only approached him but had already fired another spell – of course he had - and it struck Wyatt square in the chest before he could stop it. He wasn't sure what he was expecting James to have cast but he felt his body imploding, for the first time in years his body hurt from the transformation as it was forcibly compressed back into a lizard against his will. James snatched him out of the air before he could do anything and laughed, a triumphant yet chilling laugh as he gripped him painfully tightly.

"You know, Wyatt, when you escaped so quickly I wracked my brain for how it could've happened without help because there was no one near you. Stephan thought you could cast Disillusionment Charms wandlessly but I think Stephan overestimates the talents of non-Elites, no, I had a different thought," James recounted, an unbelievably smug look on his face as he withdraw a black blade, "I thought what can _actual_ wizards do wandlessly, you can't apparate because of the enchantments but you _would_ be able to transform if you were an animagus. Unregistered animagus exist, my namesakes are proof of that. I have to admit, I thought you would be an _insect_ of all things but no, you're a lizard. I'm not disappointed though, it just means there's more of you to hurt."

On that note, James plunged the knife into Wyatt's left wing. Wyatt screamed in pain – though it came out as an awkward lizard sound – as James tore through the thin flap of flesh, his mind pounding from the pain so intense he feared – or maybe hoped - he'd pass out as he watched the brightly colored skin hacked away, watched it fluttering to the ground. He tried to transform back but he couldn't, not when James was holding him.

"I bet you used to be a good spy with his form," James commented thoughtfully as he finished butchering the left, leaving Wyatt blinking through tears of pain to gaze at the space his wing had been.

He rolled his eye to James fearfully, some part of his mind still functioning through pain registering what James was saying was bad. He was smiling sadistically, his eyes alive with pleasure as he shifted his position so he could hover the blade ominously over his other wing. _Please no_ , Wyatt silently begged, whimpering in fear and pain in what he was sure was a pathetic display. He screamed again as James mercilessly stabbed into the other wing, cutting it away, cutting it all away. Wyatt was sure he'd pass out from the pain, or throw up because he felt sick. He felt so sick. He wasn't sure exactly what his wings translated to as a human but his sides felt like they were on fire, they also felt slick with blood.

"But now you're nothing," James told him coldly, looking him in the eye and Wyatt couldn't see a single shred of humanity staring back at him, "You're going to lead me to Gray because I am not going easy on you anymore, Wyatt, I'm going to tear you apart and whatever pathetic lump is left of you will beg me for death. If you want me to grant you mercy then, I suggest you tell me sooner rather than later. Gray won't save you now you're useless to them, you're nothing."

Wyatt couldn't even process what he said before James looped his tail around the knife, in one quick moment severing it and he cried out in pain once more. James then jabbed the blade into his arm and dragged it through, slicing through his frail lizard body like it was half-melted butter and splitting his wand arm in half.

The explosion of pain was unbearable, darkness swamped his vision and he was sure he only didn't pass out as he heard a growl. An instant later James gave a high-pitched shrieked of terror and Wyatt was thrown from his grip, he transformed immediately while he had the chance and hit the ground in a roll. He glanced quickly to James, seeing Marigold had recovered and was on top of him. He might not know how to fight another werewolf but he seemed to have figured out how to overpower a human. One claw was in James' stomach and the other was on his head, blood streaming from both wounds while Marigold lowered his head with his jagged teeth starting to clasp around James' throat and-

 _Damn it!_ Wyatt swore mentally as James' body was engulfed into darkness, quickly vanishing into the shadows as a Specter transported him instantly to safety before Marigold could end him. Marigold gave a howl of frustration that Wyatt emphasized with, James had gotten away.

Darkness danced in front of his vision again, forcibly reminding him that he was in bad shape. One side of each arm going down through his armpits, sides and legs felt raw and damp, as did the base of his spine. Then there was his right arm which was split in two was just streaming blood, his arm was soaking in it already. He fumbled for his wand, having to use his trembling left to shakily attempt to conjure bandages to just bind his right limb back together. He knew it far from fixed it but he had to try to stop the bleeding or he would die- well he might still die, darkness was still trying to choke him but he definitely would die if he couldn't stem the blood flow.

He succeeded in doing that and let his head fall back onto the dirt, he didn't feel good. His heart was pounding but his breathing felt shallow even with his mouth hanging open, a cold had swept through him making him shiver or maybe it was the thin layer of sweat on his brow but he was cold. His stomach churned and he felt oddly thirsty, the worst was the darkness still trying to envelop him. He was fighting just to stay awake, he had to get out of here before he died or James – who hopefully at least was injured himself - sent people after them.

He tried to apparate, desperately needing to get help from Gray if he was going to save the others. It didn't work, he was still inside the apparation wards. He'd felt his whole body tingle though, that meant it was weaker here, they were almost clear of it. Wyatt groaned unhappily, trying to keep his eyes open as he noticed Marigold was beside him.

"We're so close," Wyatt breathed weakly, feeling like everything was falling apart at the last second when they were right at the finish line. Marigold was kind of nudging him like he was urging him to get up but Wyatt couldn't, his body suddenly felt like it weight a million… whatever weight measurement was a lot, "We're close to end of the apparation wards but I can't… I can't move."

Marigold continued to nudge him and it dawned on Wyatt that he was actually trying to let him climb onto his back, Wyatt managed to pull himself up with one arm – barely – and practically collapsed onto the soft white fur. Marigold started to run and Wyatt only realized he'd been slipping into unconsciousness as he was jostled awake by the fact he'd started to slip, he righted himself and gripped the white fur with his one not destroyed hand.

Raising his head was still an impossibility and darkness kept grating on his vision, Wyatt was sure he was going to pass out and unsure if he hadn't already. More than once he was jostled like he'd started to drift again, he felt simultaneously like he'd been sleeping forever and was so exhausted he just needed to sleep. He was sure not much time had passed even though it felt like a long time to him, his bandage was already bloody. This was how he was going to die, he was sure of it. He was going to bleed to death, he wasn't even going to succeed in saving the others before succumbing to death. He'd failed, his dad had died for nothing. He was failure, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything right, not even when people's lives depended on him. He'd let them down, he'd let everyone down. _You're nothing, Wyatt_ , James' voice taunted in his mind.

Wyatt jolted, blinking back the beginning of pathetic tears as he heard Marigold's feet racing across stone. He'd thought they'd been going through the forest so he could try apparating to get help, instead he realized the former healer had brought him back to the cave where the others were. It also occurred to him why, when darkness wasn't drowning him he saw it was actually light. The sun was rising over on the horizon, the werewolves were about to turn back. Marigold bounded through the illusion wall that Wyatt had cast, throwing him off and giving a yowl of pain.

"What happened?!" Pollux burst out in shock as Wyatt pulled himself feebly into a sitting position, although he remained forced to lean against the wall and his eyes attempted to close.

"Ambush," Wyatt managed to mumble in response, losing the battle with his eyes – or eye, he only had one he recalled – though he could hear howls of pain from the werewolves, alerting him to the fact they were turning back but it was hard to stay awake…

"Wand!" a voice barked and Wyatt's eyes snapped open, making him realize he must've lost consciousness for a bit as Marigold – now human again – was the one speaking.

He fumbled with the pack, fighting his mind to stay awake though his hand explicitly remembered which pocket had Marigold's wand. He started to hand it over but Marigold snatched it from his hand along with the Strengthening Potion which he downed before moving back towards Sebastian, Wyatt caught a glimpse of him on the ground with his chest looking bloody and his breathing sounded pretty bad. Wyatt tried to watch to see if Marigold could save him, wanting to see if the poor kid would be okay or not but his eyes just wouldn't stay open…

"Wyatt?" Marigold's voice – sounding oddly raspy, he realized, and breathless – questioned and Wyatt's eye rolled back open to see the healer was now removing the bandage off his arm, "You still awake?"

"I'm done for," Wyatt admitted weakly as Marigold continued unfurling the crimson strips of conjured cloth, still having to fight to keep his eyes open, "But where we were close to the end of the wards where we were… you know what I mean, just get back there and keep going. I'll tell you where you need to apparate to so you can get help-"

"Don't be so overdramatic," Marigold complained sharply, his voice definitely raspy.

Wyatt was about to object when Marigold made a complicated motion with his wand before jabbing it down onto his arm. Wyatt gasped in shock as he felt as if Marigold had plunged ice inside his veins, there was even an icy glow to the spell he was doing. Marigold had an intense look of concentration on his face as he dragged his wand slowly and carefully over the split in his arm, the acrid cold feeling and icy glow following with it.

It seemed to be helping though, the part already covered had knitted the skin back together. To some degree anyway, the skin was slightly raised where the wound had been and it looked as if it had been encased in ice. He brushed his fingers across it, learning it was cold to the touch but felt like flesh just harder. It was nice though, the cold seemed to absorb all the pain. Too bad he still felt like he was going to pass out, Marigold's wand movements were getting shaky near the end too.

"There, it's sealed," Marigold announced weakly as he finished and knelt back. He then started fumbling in the pack with shaking his hands, twirling his wand arm and summoning some vials to himself. He handed one to him that Wyatt recognized as Blood-Replenishing Potion, another which was a painkiller and one he didn't recognize them, he looked half asleep, "Drink those, they should help. Then you need to book it before it wears off, just reach the apparation point and get help. You said it was close."

"I don't know if I can make it," Wyatt admitted what was an understatement, he didn't think Marigold understood how weak he felt. He drank the Blood-Replenishing Potion first as he felt it was most important, he was quite familiar with it and then the painkiller.

"Drink the other potion and tell me that," Marigold offered cryptically, moving away from him.

Wyatt supposed he was intrigued as he drank the second potion, for a second feeling nothing but then he felt a surge of strength. His eye snapped open, wide open, he felt wider awake then he'd ever felt. He suddenly felt like he could run a thousand miles- no, a thousand million, just a thousand wouldn't successfully burn off this energy. He was fidgeting, he couldn't sit still, and he needed to be moving. Even his eye was swiveling around the room, spotting the kids sitting in a line with Pollux closest the entrance and opposite him holding his wand like he'd been ready to defend the others, then Byron, then Auriga and opposite them beside Wyatt was the professor lying down still asleep. Sebastian was lying in a blanket on the other side of Auriga, seeming alive as Marigold was cupping his head to help him drink some potion. Marigold's strengthening solution seemed to be wearing off, he was blinking repeatedly as if trying to keep himself awake like Wyatt just had.

"Are you okay?" Pollux asked with a hint of concern and Wyatt glanced back to him, "Your eye just got _really_ dilated."

"I'm good," Wyatt blurted out, the words flying out of his mouth he was speaking so fast, "Real good. Feel great. Potion is great. Lots of energy. Wide awake. I got this."

"It won't last forever so you should move," Marigold urged him, moving away from Sebastian to sit back beside him.

Marigold then threw up abruptly on the ground and the first thing Wyatt noticed was that it didn't smell like vomit, it smelled like burning flesh. Wyatt glanced at it and noticed it was a black bile that had a weird consistency, reminding him of eggs. It also suddenly struck him that Marigold had been hit by that curse from James, had… had that done internal damage? He looked back to Marigold, the healer already riddled with burns, bites and deep gashes. His face had an unhealthy grayish tinge to it and he was trembling, he wasn't looking so hot.

"Are you okay?" Wyatt asked him and Marigold merely shook his head, leaning back against the wall weakly, "Well sit tight, I'll be back as soon as I can which will probably be pretty soon because I can run pretty fast."

"Try not to get ambushed," Pollux offered, looking genuinely concerned.

Wyatt merely nodded as he left the cave, clambering down the brief section of mountainside. And then he ran. He ran and ran and ran, did a cartwheel because… he was still feeling really energized and he couldn't run fast enough. He ran through the fields back towards where he came, nearing the forest which was when he started to feel his strength sapping again.

He made it to the edge of the forest where they'd fought which was easily identifiable by the craters and the bloodstained ground and of course the corpses, he couldn't see any Shadows except the dead. He took out his wand, trying to decide whether it was better to use his normal wand hand – which Marigold seemed to have stabilized but was stiff and awkward to move – or his healthy but not dominant hand. He ultimately went with the latter and awkwardly started trying to check magically for people with wand movements his left had never cast before, he didn't seem to be picking anything up though.

It was a bit odd although he thought they'd probably had people and werewolves set up at different points with the Specter to check them, the Specter controlled by James. If James had been injured too badly or knocked out he might not have been able to pass on the location they'd been in, might've bought them some time. He hoped James died from his injuries.

He pushed on through the trees, testing for the apparation wards to end and feeling his strength continuing to wane. The deeper he pushed on in the forest the closer he felt to the apparation wards but also the weaker he was, he was stumbling through the trees by the time he was out of the small wooded section and only then could he apparate.

He'd heard the base had fallen so he went to the Embry's, they were supposed to be backup and at the very least they'd know where the new base was or how to find Gray or just… something, anything useful. He didn't think he'd ever been happier to feel like he was being shoved through a tube, reappearing in the calm muggle street.

He rushed over to the door, breathing heavily and feeling faint once more as he banged on the frame. He really didn't care if it was a rude awakening, he needed them to come and help him retrieve the others as soon as possible. Just because he hadn't seen any Shadows, it didn't mean they couldn't be back at any time. He was hammering so fiercely on the door he almost punched the elderly man who opened it in the face, Richard Embry was his name though Wyatt didn't know him well. He looked like he'd just woken up, wearing a bathroom and slippers. Though from the way his eyes bulged in shock upon seeing him, Wyatt thought he was probably awake now.

"I escaped from Hogwarts," Wyatt blurted out quickly, possibly a hint of the last remnants of that potion, "Along with the prisoners but they're still in a cave, I need help to extract them before the Shadows return."

"I'll rally the troops then," Richard assured him, already turning back inside and calling out for people. Wyatt leaned against the door frame for support, though he finally breathed a sigh of relief.


	11. IIX: The Morning After

As the full moon approached, it dawned on Scorpius he would actually be able to use his animagi ability for the very reason he had wanted to learn it. Well, except he'd be hanging around with other werewolves that weren't Michael. For one night they shuffled around the sleeping arrangements, Maurene would go down sleep in the living room with Varanian – who was still out from the Sleeping Potion – while Scorpius and Lamb would join the Leebins in the spare bedroom. The werewolves who weren't in Hogan's would be doing their own thing, being divided as they were with not enough space was pretty awkward and he could definitely see why Varanian had wanted to avoid this if possible.

Scorpius wasn't entirely sure what to expect but Hogan had him transform and just lie down, Lamb was in a single bed beside him while the Leebins – minus Maurene, and Hogan who was flitting about – were in the double opposite. Lamb and Myriam were weak and half-asleep from the exhaustion, Leebin himself was just waiting like Scorpius but what really surprised him was Lysel. The boy had looked on his deathbed for days but in the hour before he full moon rose he came alive, he was practically bouncing off the walls while a never ending string of words poured from his lips as he rambled on, mostly about what names he was considering for his future band and why they related to werewolves.

It became obvious when the full moon rose, Lysel stopped mid-sentence while Myriam and Lamb started screaming. Lysel just sat down on the edge of the bed with a stoic expression, closing his eyes and gripping the fabric, his body trembling but he didn't turn. The adults meanwhile were mostly covered by blankets but he could see the human-shaped lumps contorting beneath the fabric, only when the screams had become howls did he notice the wolfish snouts now sticking out. When it was over, Myriam got up to stretch while Lamb lay there mewling in pain and twitching.

"Are you not going to turn, Lysel?" Leebin asked his son worriedly after sparing a glance for Lamb who Hogan went over to look at.

"Yes I just thoughted to wait for Mummy and Eph to stop," Lysel admitted with a sigh while Myriam watched on with worry shining through despite her now wolfish form, "I like being a human and a werewolf but the turning hurts."

"I know," Leebin said gently, pulling his son into a hug.

He cradled him for a few moments while Lysel seemingly braced himself, he then planted a kiss on his son's forehead and Lysel moved away. The toddler took off his pajamas and immediately started to turn, maybe it was just because he was so young and so small or fully visible but the transformation seemed more violent on Lysel though ironically also less drastic. Myriam and Lamb were very noticeably a lot larger as werewolves then humans, Lysel was bigger than he had been but still small like a little wolf cub. Lysel also didn't scream, it was only when he was fully turned that he howled into the night and both Myriam and Lamb's heads picked up to attention.

Lysel stretched his legs for a minute while Myriam climbed back onto the bed, Leebin leaned back against his wife – who was now more than twice his size – and motioned for Lysel to come on. Lysel did so, curling up on his father's lap and leaning against his mother. Leebin stroked his son soothingly and Lysel quickly fell into a slumber, Myriam watched her son until then before sleeping herself and finally Leebin who took a bit longer to nod off. Especially considering during her first transformation Myriam had injured him, Scorpius thought Leebin was pretty brave to so willingly, casually and closely hang out with his werewolf family like that. He tried to imagine his father doing that if he was in Leebin's situation and somehow he just couldn't.

After that the night was uneventful, Hogan left after a bit and Lamb seemed to recover from whatever had happened with the transformation. Scorpius did eventually fall asleep though he was awoken by howls of pain coming from the adult werewolves, Lysel's eyes had snapped open but he wasn't transforming back like the other two. Lamb was still under the covers and Leebin pretty quickly covered his wife as she got more human shaped, morphing back into the petite, delicate woman you would never have thought had dwarfed her husband a few minutes ago. She again didn't seem to have issue but Lamb moaned in pain when it was over, his body spasming uncontrollably for a minute. Scorpius could only assume it had something to do with his nerve damage, maybe it would make Hogan do something for him now. Well, whenever Hogan got back anyway.

"Lysel?" Leebin questioned fearfully and Scorpius' attention snapped back to the Leebins, seeing Lysel was in fact still a werewolf. He was just lying on the bed wagging his tail, seemingly not concerned at the thought he might be stuck like this, "Lysel if you can turn back then you need to do it _right_ now, I know turning hurts but we don't want to risk you being trapped in this form forever."

Lysel cocked his head to one side as if considering this before reluctantly heaving a sigh and starting to transform back, somehow Scorpius was sure Leebin had never been more relieved that his son was transforming. The energy from before was gone though, Lysel collapsed soon as he was human again and barely seemed conscious as Leebin put his pajamas back on.

Scorpius transformed back while Leebin carried him over to the bedside table where there were some potions ready, he cradled his son gently and started bringing vials of potion over for him to drink. He offered words of encouragement to his barely conscious child but still practically had to pour it down his throat as Lysel was so weak, it seemed pretty normal though. Leebin seemed good there and Myriam seemed to be pulling on her nightie beneath the blankets so Scorpius went over to Lamb, whose twitching arm was sticking out showing numerous self-inflicted werewolf scars.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked him gently and the werewolf's eyes snapped open, blinking rapidly as he nodded.

"Y- Y- Yeah, th- its n- normal," Lamb told him weakly, his voice seeming especially shaky but also hoarse.

"Do you want anything? Like a drink or something?"

"S- S- Some w- water w- would b- b- be n- n- nice."

"Okay, I'll get you some water," Scorpius assured him as tried to stammer out a thank you.

He left Lamb, sparing a glance at the Leebins in case one of them wanted water. Leebin had finished giving Lysel the potions and had instead tucked him back into the bed, he'd snuggled up to his mother now and she had a half-full glass of water on the bedside table already. He went to go get the water, Leebin following carrying the empty vials. They almost walked into Hogan as he was leaving Molly and Oathan's room, probably having just had to deal with Oathan – Hogan was in his lime green Healer robes - as he frequently did because the kid was in bad shape.

"Hogan, can you make sure Lysel's alright?" Leebin asked immediately with concern, "When the full moon ended he didn't immediately turn back, he waited a few minutes."

"Hasn't he done that before?" Scorpius wondered curiously and Leebin shook his head frantically, "Well can you also look at Lamb? H-"

"I'll look at them later," Hogan interrupted him irritably, brushing them off with a wave of his hand, "Unless it's an emergency because I already have an emergency to go deal with."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, something about prisoners escaping from Hogwarts and there are injuries and they need me."

"It can wait then, go do your thing," Leebin offered, looking quite relieved, "That's good the prisoners got out."

"Only if they don't die from injuries because I was too busy yakking to you two," Hogan grumbled, starting to head down the stairs and they both followed.

"Can I go with you?" Scorpius asked of the Healer, thinking it'd be good to find out what was going on to tell Varanian and it might be his chance to talk to Brutus.

"Why? Since when did you know anything about healing?"

"I don't, I just want to know what's going on."

"Well if you really want to," Hogan shrugged dismissively and suppressed a yawn as they reached the front door, Hogan pulling it open, "See you later, Flan, or sooner if Oathan crashes again."

"Good luck," Leebin offered as Scorpius followed Hogan outside, glad he'd not bothered to undress when he knew he'd spend the night as a Thestral. He held out his hand for Hogan to take.

"You really need to learn to apparate," Hogan complained at him irritably as he took his hand, immediately ending them violently hurtling through space. Scorpius felt far more disorientated then he usually did from apparation, Hogan was unfazed though and continued his sentence the second they reappeared while already leading him forwards, "It's not like you're in Hogwarts anymore, especially in now of all times its useful. It's not even that hard, I could do it from the first lesson! I mean I kept splinching myself horribly, managing to do it _without_ splinching was the hard part but I could still do it. Elmira – my first wife – could do it and she _hated_ apparating, never got used to the sensation but she could still _do_ it- heck, _Flan_ can do it and he is _so_ bad at magic-"

"I get it, okay? I don't know why it's so hard for me," Scorpius told him truthfully and ashamedly, managing to glance around and was surprised to recognize they were outside the Embry's.

"Because you're an idiot."

"Why are we at the Embry's? I thought we were going to the base," Scorpius questioned worriedly as Hogan knocked on the door.

"Because the prisoners were brought here not the base, duh," Hogan stated as if it was opened and Richard Embry opened the door, stepping aside and gesturing for them to come in. So much for talking to Brutus, Scorpius supposed.

Richard closed the door behind them and directed Hogan into the dining room turned hospital wing, of everyone Scorpius had seen there before only Albus remained while the other beds were now occupied by new people. In the far left corner he saw Byron Knight, his older brother – who Scorpius couldn't remember the name of – was hugging him while Byron sobbed brokenly into his shoulder. Opposite him was Professor Koray, seemingly unconscious while his children – though he almost didn't recognize the girl with her hair shaved off – sat either side of him. Beside the Korays was Albus who was asleep – unfortunately, Scorpius still needed to pass along Vern's message – and opposite him was Marigold, the Healer looked worse than all of them. Apart from looking like he'd been attacked by a werewolf, his skin was an unhealthy ashen gray and he seemed to be struggling to breathe.

It was Marigold that Maximus Nott was tending to, he called Hogan over and started talking to him – presumably filling him in on everybody's status because Maximus was also a Healer in training – as he jumped into helping Marigold. On Marigold's other side was Sebastian, the young boy had thankfully survived the full moon it seemed though he was watching Marigold with anxiously. Opposite him Latimer was helping Wyatt onto the bed, Wyatt was looking extremely pale and had a brown eyepatch over one eye, the sides of his clothes were stained by blood and his one sleeve was literally soaked in the stuff that had to be from some injury to that arm. There was a handful of other people standing around, some leaving as if getting out of the way while others were bringing in trays of potions for the healers to use or glasses of water. For a second Scorpius was looking around for Michael before it occurred to him he'd also be wiped from the full moon and unable to help, some part of him was kind of glad about that so he could avoid more confrontation.

"Not how I expected this day would go when I got up like twenty minutes ago," Richard commented, seemingly half to himself and he put his hand over his mouth as he yawned but nonetheless Scorpius' attention was back to him and Richard seemed to notice, "Have you seen Pip?"

"He's sleeping," Scorpius answered and felt like he should elaborate in case he questioned why he hadn't been woken, "Hogan gave him a powerful sleeping potion so he'll be out for a while, he was exhausted."

"I'm glad he's finally getting some rest then," Richard said, sounding sincere and looking relieved, "I was worried about him, he's not been doing so good."

"That's why I convinced him he needed rest," Scorpius pointed out, feeling glad someone else shared in his concern for Varanian.

"At least he listened to one of us."

"Oh Scor, didn't expect to see you here," a familiar voice spoke and he turned back to see his friend Abby Longbottom as one of the ones leaving the now hospital wing, her extremely long blond usually braided hair was in a hastily tied ponytail and her brown eyes wide with surprise as she quickly pulled him to one side with her voice dropping to a whisper, "Look, we haven't told Al about his mum yet so if you're talking to him then just don't mention it, okay?"

"What? Why? What happened to his mum?" Scorpius wondered worriedly which seemed to surprise her.

"Oh, well then in that case don't worry about it," Abby brushed it aside with a wave of her hand, "I'll tell you later."

"Um… okay," Scorpius muttered unsurely as she continued on, leaving him suddenly inexplicably afraid for Ginny Potter. He did notice she didn't seem mad at him, at least she didn't try to punch him.

"Is Marigold going to be okay?" a small voice asked fearfully and Scorpius glanced back to Sebastian seeing his eyes glimmering with tears, seeing the young werewolf was speaking to Hogan as Maximus had gone over to Wyatt.

"I don't know," Hogan shrugged without taking his eyes off Marigold as he waved his wand over the unconscious man then went to grab a potion from one of the trays someone had brought, "He was hit with a spell that's done a lot of internal damage, he's lost a lot of blood and he's so weak from his first full moon his body's just not as strong as it needs to be right now. I'll do everything I can but he needs to hold on, he stabilized the others so I can focus on him a little bit right now."

"S- So if he w- wasn't a werewolf h- he'd be okay?" Sebastian stammered out, desperately trying to keep his sob at bay to form a clear sentence and barely succeeding as his voice still caught and tears were seeping out. Scorpius was just confused, Marigold was a werewolf now?

"He'd have a better shot of survival," Hogan answered with another shrug, seemingly not noticing how upsetting his was for Sebastian with his attention still on his patient. Or maybe he just didn't care, he was kind of an asshole.

"Hey, it's okay, Sebastian," Scorpius offered to try comfort the crying child, who he thought he probably needed rest not to be upset right now especially, "Don't feel bad, it's not like it's your fault he became a werewolf."

This seemed to have the exact opposite of his intended effect though, Sebastian's eyes widened in horror. He then turned his face into the pillow, breaking down into full blown sobs much louder and stronger than before. Scorpius was extremely confused and not for the first time wished he knew what to say to comfort people, Maximus came over with a potion – it looked like a Sleeping Draught – for Sebastian but not before casting Scorpius a dark look.

"What did I say?" Scorpius wondered at a loss but Maximus' attention was already back on Sebastian, helping him to drink the potion.

"Oh hey Scor," another familiar voice said and Scorpius turned back to see Latimer addressing him, the older teen who was Molly's age. He looked a little different then since Scorpius had last seen him, he had the same horribly pockmarked skin and reddish-brown eyes but his jet black hair had grown out a bit more giving him a scruffier appearance. He also oddly seemed to hold himself a bit more confidently, "How's Molly?"

"Oh, Molly? Um she's good," Scorpius stumbled out in surprise, he hadn't expected Latimer to ask him that of all things though he supposed it made sense, they were friends, "I mean she's hurt but she's recovering, she should be okay to be up and walking around now that's good."

"That's good, I'm glad she's doing okay," Latimer said, looking relieved and scratching at the back of his head, "I've been meaning to visit but I've just been busy, trying to stay on top of things whenever Varanian isn't around."

"I'm sure its fine."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Latimer wondered curiously, also not seeming mad at him. Maybe Leebin had a point. Though no sooner had he thought that, Abby's older sister Heather Longbottom walked by and threw him a murderous glare so maybe not?

"I don't know," Scorpius admitted, feeling less confident in his reasoning for being there by the second, "I wanted to find out what was going for Varanian, maybe help."

"Well there's not really anything you can do to help, the Shadows hadn't scrambled an attack force together by the time we went back to retrieve the escaping prisoners. They were only starting to show up as we were leaving so it wasn't really an issue and everyone's already back now," Latimer explained, gesturing to the room of injured, "What we really need is just Healers, Maximus said everyone except Marigold was stabilized but that's a slipping band aid so they're gonna still need treatment. Unless you learned healing suddenly since I last saw you, you're not much help."

"I guess I'm not much help then…"

"Though didn't you just say you wanted to find out for Varanian?"

"Yeah."

"Well can you ask him if Maurice and Orous' family can join Gray? They offered and the stepdad's girlfriend is a Healer which would be incredible right about now," Latimer reeled off, still not sounding mad just very focused on the subject, "Maurice is so keen for it he thinks it's foolish to not ask them when we have more people needing healing then we have Healers and this is pretty unlikely to be the only time, he and Orous both vouch for them-"

"You can let them join," Scorpius encouraged him, "I think its okay so I give you my permission, I'm sure he'll think its okay."

"You sure?" Latimer wondered in surprise and Scorpius nodded, "Great, I'll go tell Maurice the good news and hopefully the Healer is available to help right now."

Scorpius opened his mouth to say more but Latimer was already leaving the room quickly to get on that, he supposed it _was_ urgent. With Latimer out of the way though he did spot Rutherford handing Wyatt what looked like Blood-Replenishing Potion, making him remember one of the things Varanian had wanted to do. He wasn't super keen to talk to Rutherford, after all he _had_ forced his best friend to be shackled in a dungeon every full moon but he had supposedly turned over a new leaf and he was one of them now, and he might be useful. So Scorpius approached him, he was a tall imposing man with short scruffy dark hair though strangely and almost – okay, not even almost - comically he was wearing large goggles for some reason.

"Hey Rutherford," Scorpius started, gaining the man's attention and noticed his normally menacing dark eyes were magnified by the goggles. He was so taken aback by it he didn't immediately continue speaking, he saw the magnified eyes roll.

"I have to wear these until my eyes finish recovering," Rutherford explained through gritted teeth. Now that he mentioned it, Scorpius noticed the white of his eye was a little red and there was faint scarring, "Just another week or two."

"Well that's good," Scorpius offered politely, Rutherford continued to glower at him but since he usually did that he wasn't sure whether he was mad at him or just being himself.

"How's Myriam?" Rutherford asked just as Scorpius had opened his mouth to speak, surprising him as he wasn't sure why the disgraced Ministry attaché would ask about her.

"She's fine, its nothing to do with her," Scorpius answered quickly in case for some reason Rutherford had thought something had happened with her transformation or whatever, "I just wanted to talk to you about something, Varanian wants to try make some kind of alarm to detect when the Shadow Master and um… well you made that alarm for Hogwarts so I wondered if you might be able to help?"

"Do you know how different doing something across Hogwarts is to doing it across the entire country?"

"No. But I'm sure Varanian knows and he's still trying," Scorpius told him readily, "You don't have to help with this or if you can't obviously but you're the only one I thought of who might be able to do something so if you could then that'd be helpful."

"Well I can give it some thought, just not right now," Rutherford offered begrudgingly before glancing beyond Scorpius as if someone had gestured to him from behind, "I'll get back to you."

"Okay," Scorpius said as Rutherford moved past to him, sparing a look to see him going over to Maximus who started talking about Blood-Replenishing Potion. Feeling slightly better about his productiveness, he turned down to Wyatt who looked like he was fighting to keep his eyes – well eye - open. He was alive though which was good, he liked Wyatt who had taught him to be an animagus after all. Though Wyatt might not like him so much anymore, "Hey Wyatt."

"Hey," Wyatt greeted him tiredly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy," Wyatt answered slowly, sounding particularly sleepy, "And thirsty."

"I can get you a drink," Scorpius offered, whirling out his wand to conjure a glass and fill it with water for him. He handed it to the seemingly unhurt arm, "Here."

"Thanks," Wyatt mumbled as he took the glass and sipped it readily, "The Strengthening thingy is really erm… really fading fast but that Painkiller though… that is working fine."

"Well I'm glad it doesn't hurt," Scorpius said truthfully as Wyatt continued glugging down the water, "Everyone wanted to save you but they couldn't figure out a way so you should be proud, it's really great how you managed to get everyone out alive too."

"I didn't… I didn't get everyone out alive," Wyatt corrected sadly, his expression turning sorrowful and his eyes watery, "My dad died."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Scorpius offered, tempted to pat him on the shoulder to comfort him, "Your dad was…"

"Was what?" Wyatt pressed and Scorpius felt his cheeks burn a little, awkwardly failing at thinking of anything nice to say about his least favorite teacher. He thought of the time he's seen Grant over the son he thought was dead, that was… good of him but he wasn't sure how to translate that into a sentence that didn't seem weird.

"Was… your dad," Scorpius concluded lamely, mentally kicking himself for coming up with that of all things. Comforting people he didn't know as well as the people he usually tried to comfort , "I mean he… didn't hate you… he cared… somewhat… I'm pretty sure."

"Thanks," Wyatt mumbled, sounding actually sincere as he went back to sipping his drink and while Scorpius would like to think he'd succeeded at comforting him he was more concerned Wyatt had hit his head or wasn't hearing right.

"Do you want me to get you some gummy worms?" Scorpius offered instead, knowing that was a sure thing to cheer Wyatt up because he was addicted to the stuff. Wyatt merely cringed though and sadly shook his head, shocking Scorpius.

"No. I don't… I don't really like those things anyway," Wyatt told him sadly, handing him back the empty glass of water, "But thanks… thanks for the kind offer."

Now Scorpius was sure, Wyatt had _definitely_ hit his head.


	12. IIX: Food With Friends

_**Thanks to:** ChakraKitty, Colin Creevey, Cal and TheMidnightSun10 for reviewing!_

 _ **Questions:**_

 _ **When will varanian find out his baby is alive?/** **Will they all live?/** **Will he (Scorpius) tell anyone about his immortality?**_  
 _All things too spoilery to say_

 _ **What's up with Lysel? Is he some kinda Animagus werewolf now? Able to choose when to turn?**_  
 _As he gets older more is learned of or figured out about his condition which is a bit different because he was turned in utero when his body was still developing, he's not an animagus_

 _ **How's molly?**_  
 _She's healthy enough to walk around now_

 _ **Is their (Dom and Aurelius) baby ok?**_  
 _Yes, Cres is alive and safe (as safe as anyone can be right now) with Bill_

 _ **Is Michael stepping up yet?**_  
 _Assuming you mean for his unborn child, no he is not_

 _ **What's JackOne up to? Did he die?**_  
 _Jack/One is still alive, they just aren't with Gray constantly_

 _ **Will we get to see baby Leo (that's what I've been calling Varannian and Annie's baby in my head until his name is revealed) soon?**_  
 _Yes_

 _ **When is Scorpius going to start digging into his immortality?**_  
 _Soon_

 _ **Will Scor be talking to Brutus soon?**_  
 _Yes_

* * *

Sly Atoll rubbed at his wrist, his skin now covered in raw red words scrawled in his neat handwriting. That was the way of the Training Tower, in place of regular quills they used blood quills which scarred his flesh. It was especially sore today as he'd just got done writing a long essay on the properties of ingredients most valuable in the creation of Dark Magic potions and _why_ they're the most valuable, and Sly couldn't be happier. Well, apart from if he could see his dad.

Gone were the days he was forced to sit in a muggle classroom being degraded, sitting through patronizing lectures on ABC's when he'd been reading since he was still in diapers… which was a little embarrassing in hindsight but his father had prioritized reading at the time. The point was those horrible days were over, it was such a relief to be able to be treated like he had a brain again. And to learn! He was actually learning things again, new things, interesting things, things he didn't have to fight to find information on because his foster parents refused to acknowledge he wasn't a brain dead moron like the majority of kids his age that hadn't been lucky to enough to be exposed to Vanharisk potion. Though today it had just been nice to show off knowledge in his essay, he was born and bred in Knockturn Alley after all and his father dabbled in dark potions for a living so of course he was familiar with the subject matter.

Sure, the Blood Quills sucked but if there was any universal truth he'd learned during his time in this world it was that life sucked. Life just sucked, there was always going to be pain and if he was going to endure pain it might as well be to benefit himself instead of just humans being the violent barbarians they were. Sly definitely considered it a step up from living in foster care here, of course it wasn't going to be perfect and there were things he actually disliked more than the dull ache of the blood quill he could put out of his mind.

A downside for the Vanharisk did mean he suffered from seizures – and migraines - which had been gradually reducing in frequency since he'd been forced to stop taking it in foster care but they remained an issue. One of the few things his dad actually had in common with his many _many_ foster parents was how they dealt with his seizures, they'd help him through it and make sure he was okay then usually let him relax for a bit to recover. The Soul Eaters… well, they didn't care. They'd just let him drop and expect him to get back to it immediately, some would even go as far as to kick him if he didn't recover fast enough. It did make the whole experience rougher and he would rather they be a tad more lenient, it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter or he'd never have another seizure again. The worst was spellcasting, he was happy to have a wand but it did not come easy to him. Most things did, he was a fast learner and did well on more academic things or potion crafting – which was also fun to do again, even better the Soul Eaters could afford proper equipment so he didn't burn his hands - then he was mediocre at more physical things but he was keeping up. Spells though? He really struggled and doing it for extended periods of time tended to trigger his seizures or especially migraines, making it even harder when he had to press on after it. The Soul Eaters were pretty harsh about it all, it wasn't unexpected – only an idiot would expect that from them – but he'd still appreciate some leniency.

But whatever, Sly could live with it and he was sure he'd get better. He remained in good spirits as he headed to the canteen for food, though the food itself was pretty bland. They had porridge for breakfast, a broth for lunch and a stew for dinner, bread was also allowed with it and water was the only thing they drank but it was same every day. The kind of broth or stew also would change but it still cycled through the same vegetables, it was all vegetarian. It was just pretty bland, good thing Sly had long since learned not to be a picky eater. It was the newspaper of all things – apart from his dad and sister of course - he found himself missing the most, granted the Shadows had a better reason to deny him this small pleasure then those foster idiots but nonetheless nothing ever trumped starting the day with a cup of warm cocoa for company as he read through the day's events.

"Sly!" a voice called as he reached the canteen.

He spared a glance and saw it was his roommate, Milton, who had already grabbed a bowl for him and saved him a seat so he went over. Milton looked around eleven or twelve and also was as bland as such a lame name would suggest, he wasn't tall or short and had dull brown hair framing an entirely forgettable face. His personality was non-existent while his hobbies included crying himself to sleep and waking up screaming, he was pretty pathetic really but he could've been a lot worse.

"What have we got today?" Sly asked as he slid into his seat.

"Lentils," Milton informed him, already returning to his meal and Sly sighed.

"I miss real food like marmalade toas- well that's more breakfast, right now I'd love a burger."

"Aren't those made out of meat?" Milton wondered in surprise and his widened in horror as Sly nodded, "Eating innocent animals is barbaric, Sly, it goes against the wishes of our Shadow Master and the values we as Soul Eaters have a duty to strive for. It's also illegal so I would abandon such horrific thoughts, you're not in that horrible place anymore you're safe hear and there's plenty of great food that provides more than enough sustenance. Like this Lentil Stew."

"Yum," Sly said without enthusiasm at the third day in row of Lentil Stew, picking up a slice of bread from the plate between them while propping his head up on his other arm

"Are you still struggling with spell work?" Milton inquired as Sly nibbled on the bread, apparently taking his dissatisfaction with lentils again for dissatisfaction with his lessons, "Because if you are you could always ask Mo for help."

"I don't _need_ anyone's help," Sly scoffed irritably, "Certainly not from some uncultured inbred hillbilly hick."

"But Mo's good, he's _really_ good. He joined late like you did but he's taken to spellcasting faster and better than anyone I've ever seen, if anyone can help you improve quickly then its him. And he's terrible at all the things you're good at so you could probably offer to help him with Potions or something in exchange."

"I just said I don't need help!"

"Well it's our duty as Elites to be the best soldiers we can be for the Shadow Master, if you need help to do it then I don't know why you wouldn't take it."

"Figures a loser like you wouldn't understand pride," Sly complained with a roll of his eyes while dipping his bread into the Lentil Stew and taking a more substantial bite out of it.

"I'm not a loser," Milton objected in confusion, pausing in bringing his spoon to his mouth, "I just passed the test."

"That doesn't mean you're not a loser."

"But if I passed the test what exactly are you accusing me of losing?"

"It's more of a general term to describe you, your whole demeanor just screams loser," Sly told him casually as he dipped his bread again, Milton continued to look confused. This was another minor criticism, a lack of good company because people were either annoying anti-Shadows or brain-dead drones who failed to understand let alone be upset at his insults.

"But why? I passed the test, I've done everything the Soul Eaters have ever asked of me to the best of my ability. I'm a good soldier."

"Exactly, you're incapable of original thought which is important in the whole grand scheme of human existence. The only remarkable thing about you is how you manage to be completely unremarkable in any possible way."

"I- I have original thoughts," Milton protested albeit more unsurely, "That's the same as being resourceful basically and I can do that, resourcefulness is a valued trait for a good soldier and I'm getting a lot better at using the environment to my advantage. I passed the test, you know."

"Milton, what's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color?" Milton repeated and Sly was sure he could almost see the cogs turning in the synthetic skull as Milton tried to process what should be a question simple enough that even toddlers could answer, "I'm not sure, I'd have to ask one of the masters what that's supposed to be. That question has not come up before."

"Milton, if it's _your_ favorite you don't need to ask others what it's supposed to be. This is exactly what I mean by lacking original thought, you don't have it which puts your intelligence more in line with an Inferius then an actual human person," Sly pointed out readily, gazing into the blank face in front of him, "Though to be fair, what could anyone really expect from a guy whose parents named him Milton of all things."

"They didn't."

"Your parents didn't name you?" Sly wondered, impressed to be genuinely surprised by this while Milton shook his head, " _Are_ you an Inferius, Milton? Or did you just congeal in a gutter somewhere?"

"Some of us joined late like you, others are the children of older Soul Eaters but most of us are the children of muggles. They abandoned us when we were toddlers because they hated our magic," Milton explained, a hint of sadness cracking his usual monotonous voice, "The Soul Eaters took us in though because the Shadow Master is a great and kind leader, they shed the names of our cruel parents and instead gave us new names along with a place in the Training Tower."

"Huh, and do you remember your real parents by any chance? Or your life before?" Sly queried curiously, somehow doubting there was a secret epidemic of muggles who abandoned their magical toddlers, "Or even your original name?"

"No," Milton confirmed with a shake of his head, "I was too young, we all were."

"Hmm," Sly mused to himself thoughtfully as he went back to eating, deciding not to share his thoughts with Milton.

So most of the Training Tower kids were likely just kidnapped muggle-borns, they had to be. Their parents must've either been killed or had their memories of their children erased and since it occurred long before they'd be old enough for magical school, the wizarding world wouldn't even have noticed since they didn't pay attention to muggle-borns before that- bar emergencies to protect the statute of secrecy, of course. The kids either genuinely didn't remember due to age or had a little magical help forgetting, they gave them new names to erase the connection and decrease the likelihood of triggering memories because they wanted soldiers not children crying to go home. It was kind of twisted and kind of brilliant at the same time, he should really expect no less from the Shadow Master.

"Do you think the Masters will quiz us on this favorite color thing?" Milton asked worriedly, "I don't want to disappoint them or get in trouble for being wrong."

"Milton," Sly sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "There's missing the point and there's landing on the moon."

"So… you _don't_ think it'll come up?"

"What I think is that I've had enough of you for the day," Sly announced, standing and taking his bowl with him as he ditched the now thoroughly confused looking Milton.

He cast his eyes around the room where there unfortunately were no empty tables, easily distinguishing people like him from people like Milton as they were exhibiting emotion when they spoke and tended to be more talkative in general. Those were the people he should sit with except it wasn't like he really knew any of them though, certainly not enough to declare himself a seat at their table. Last time he'd done that a girl had threatened to cut him so he was more wary of it, damn Yankees.

No sooner had he thought that, he laid eyes on an acceptable target. The kids from Hogsmeade he'd been brought in with, Emerald and Damien. They weren't alone, they were sitting with three other kids – one of which he had some classes with - who looked similar enough to be siblings and the blind, blond Arab kid who Milton had told him was called Cyrus… he kind of stood out. At any rate, Sly didn't find the group threatening and while he didn't think they were particularly interesting either, they couldn't be more boring than Milton. Surely.

"Well hello," Sly greeted the group as he slid in between the red-headed toddler and Cyrus, earning disapproving scowls all around bar the oldest boy. This actually pleased him, people like Milton didn't react at all if he did this, "Don't mind if I sit here."

"Actually we mind a lot, go away," the red-headed Hispanic girl opposite him complained, he believed her name was Rocio. He often saw her talking to Emerald in class, he thought they were friends.

"Well _I_ don't mind and my opinion is the one that matters, not like the staff actually care where we sit," Sly told her smugly, dipping his bread into his stew again and taking a large bite. She glared, "So what's up with you losers today?"

"I want go home," Damien wailed before Rocio could continue objecting to his presence, the toddler's face was red and blotchy from crying making him look even uglier which was impressive considering he'd already been capable of winning an award for the world's ugliest toddler. Darn, he should've saved that thought to say out loud, "The quills are hurt and I don't like and I want go home to Auntie Althie and Uncle Virgil."

"You mean the home that was overrun by and destroyed by Inferi?" Sly prompted and Damien nodded, wiping his gross snotty nose on his sleeve, apparently not noticing the stupidity of his agreement, "You realize if it was destroyed and overrun by Inferi there is no home for you to go back to?"

"N- No?"

"He's three, leave him alone," Emerald spoke up defensively, reaching out to give her brother's hand a comforting squeeze which immediately sparked bitter anger that these two still had each other while his own sister had perished.

"Doesn't mean you should allow such stupidity to fester," Sly scoffed, "You don't have a home to go back to, this is your home now. Stop being such a pathetic brat, learn to use that small shriveled sack in your skull that resembles a brain. You're in Shadowland now."

"It doesn't matter if we don't have homes to go back to," Cyrus spoke up with a dark look that went nowhere, his milky orbs gazing in his vicinity but not lining up right like they would if he was actually seeing him. He was just glaring in the direction Sly's voice had come from, Sly smirked at how pathetic it looked and was further amused to realize Cyrus' inability to notice his smirk, "Home is just where our families are, being with them is what matters."

"Y- Yeah," Damien sniffed, "That's what I meanted."

"What a ridiculous notion," Sly snorted at such an idiotic definition, "By your backwards ass logic my home is a prison."

"Prisdons are realed?" the tiny red-haired tot spoke up with a look of shock.

"Of course they're real, why would you think they're not? Idiot."

"Um… cuz it seems tood bad to be realed. Like eating of anmals."

"Really, Xerx?" Cyrus wondered, seeming surprised by this and Sly took more amusement that his attempt to look in the boy's direction went nowhere close, "You live in a place where they make you write everything with quills that cut you but a prison for bad people is too horrible?"

"Yes," the toddler apparently known as Xerx confirmed, bobbing his head at Cyrus even though the older boy was incapable of seeing such an action.

"What do you expect, Cy?" the oldest boy said after swallowing a spoonful, though he still only looked around eight or nine, "Xerx's never been in your world, Dad died when he was too young to know him and unlike us, his mother _is_ a Training Tower kid so the Shadow Master's world is all he knows."

"Yes. I love Shadow Master, I be good soldier like Mama," Xerx agreed, smiling hopefully and it didn't go unnoticed by Sly how no one else at the table seemed as enthused by this as the little boy.

"So your parents are in prison?" Emerald wondered of Sly, seeming to want to get back on subject. Or maybe just off the Shadow subject.

"Yes, at least for now," Sly confirmed after finishing his mouthful, wondering if hers were also. Damien had wanted to go home to his aunt and uncle not mum and dad after all, plus he still had his suspicions she'd been abused from her reaction to being hurt, "Are yours?"

"No, they're dead. That's why we live with our uncle and aunt, our other brothers got put into foster care-"

"That's why you look familiar!" Sly exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead as it slipped into place, "One of your brothers is named Amadeus, correct?"

"Y- Yeah, that's right," Emerald stammered out in confusion, "How do you know that?"

"Because he was my foster brother for a time, freakish fuck who never spoke," Sly told her with a shrug of annoyance, not wanting her to think they'd been friends or anything… even though they kind of had and he'd been sad when the muggle took him away. But he wasn't going to tell _them_ that, then he'd look weak, "That idiotic muggle took him away a couple of months ago though."

"Cade," Emerald provided a name Sly didn't care about but looked suddenly eager, "Did you see Caradoc too? He's our youngest brother."

"That dumb baby with half his face looking like roadkill? Sure I saw him, saw the deaf kid and a crippled albino too. It was a regular freak show."

"Wait, what?" the oldest boy spoke up again and Cyrus scowled, suddenly making an effort to eat, "Albino and deaf? Cyrus, aren't those the conditions your brothers have?"

"Brothers, huh?" Sly wondered, smirking in amusement at such a messed up family, "Well you'd fit right in with them, white eyes."

"They're not my brothers, they're Roman's children," Cyrus snapped darkly, "Davin, you know that. And you, slimy British jerk, just go away."

"But their dad's name was Cade…?" Emerald pointed out in confusion.

"And Roman's your dad too," Davin – least that's what Sly was assuming the oldest boy was called – pointed out.

"He's not my dad, okay?!" Cyrus barked, slamming his spoon down onto the table, "He abandoned my mother, he abandoned me and he probably abandoned those two as well which is why that Cade guy has them now! He's not fit to be called a dad, I'll have nothing to do with Roman Rivers and that includes any other children he abandoned."

"Your brothers didn't do anything wrong."

" _Half_ -brothers," Cyrus corrected acidly, "And they're unfortunately on the half that isn't part of my family."

"Now who's a jerk," Sly taunted in amusement at this causing a rise out of him.

"What is the meaning of this disruptive noise?" a new voice asked and they all looked – though Sly wasn't sure 'looking' was the correct word to apply to the blind – to see one of the staff members approach, Master Ludwig, who was middle aged with dark graying feathered hair and a very pointy nose. Emerald and Damien immediately looked afraid, the other set of siblings didn't seem worried and Cyrus threw a menacing look at- well more like simply _in_ his general direction.

"It was him making the noise, Master," Rocio lied immediately, pointing to Sly himself though Master Ludwig was eying Emerald suspiciously, "He just barged over onto our table and started being loud and annoying."

"I most certainly did not," Sly insisted indignantly, while being almost impressed with her ability to form a cunning plan to be rid of him by twisting the situation to her benefit, "It was Cyrus, ask him about his Daddy issues."

"Conflicting stories I see," Master Ludwig mused which had Damien promptly burst into tears, Sly smirked in amusement. This kid was such a wimp, it was hilarious. He wasn't going to make it as a Soul Eater, he'd be lucky to make it as a fast food worker.

"Please! Please, Master! Please don't hurt us!" Damien begged, sobbing brokenly and cradling his wounded hands, "Please! We am sorry!"

"It's only a minor grievance where only a warning not a punishment is required, Damien, though I suggest you calm yourself before it becomes a major grievance where punishment _is_ required."

"Don't hurt my brother," Emerald shot out immediately, now unafraid and sounding more determined while Damien attempted to stop his pathetic crying which just left him sniveling.

"Speaking back to me, Emerald? Well now I'll need a word, we don't tolerate insubordination," Master Ludwig decided and gestured for the girl to follow, her fear returning as she made to follow.

"Don't go…" Damien whimpered as she left, seemingly too scared to object loud enough for Master Ludwig to hear.

"Odd standards of insubordination," Sly mused thoughtfully.

"He really has it out for her, I don't know why," Rocio shrugged, drawing his attention back to her and reminding him of what she'd tried to do.

"And what was that?" Sly questioned of her with a scowl, she raised an eyebrow but didn't look confused, "Trying to blame me for trouble to get rid of me? What if he had been mad and had tortured me?"

"I told you I wanted you to go away," Rocio told him coldly with another shrug, "Just because I don't like the Shadows, it doesn't mean I didn't grow up here and my brother wants us to be ruthless. If you got tortured then good, you deserve it and I don't care. Bother us at your own risk."

* * *

And so Scorpius found his day pretty much dedicated to just waiting to go back, since they'd been successfully saved there wasn't much to do there. Not for non-healers anyway, the healers had plenty to do but unfortunately Scorpius was not one of them.

Since he'd given his permission, Maurice did bring his stepdad's healer girlfriend Tabitha Morse who was a pretty enough dark-haired woman. She didn't have much – well any – time to get acclimated, Hogan set her immediately to work helping him stabilize Marigold without so much as an introduction like they already knew each other. It dawned on him at some point that they probably did already know each other, they'd both worked at St Mungo's until London fell after all. He doubted they were friends – he found it hard to imagine Hogan having friends, let alone a female friend his nephew's age – but co-workers yes and she seemed to know what she was doing as much as he did, both would order Maximus about while Rutherford was relegated to handing out potions and being an extra wand if they needed it. It was more than Scorpius did, he ultimately got shooed out for taking up space.

So did Abby who seemed to want to hover around Albus, he wasn't woken by any of the noise which could be because he was ill but he was a heavier sleeper anyway. They helped the Embrys make breakfast, it was nice to not have to worry about porridge because Hogan was busy. Rose's dad came down to bring some food up for his wife and the werewolves, Scorpius almost mistook him for a random old man in the house. Being imprisoned by the Shadows had not done any favors for his health, he was all skin and bones leaving his- Rose's blue eyes sunken into a gaunt face while moving cautiously like it pained him a little or he was just really old, even his once Weasley red hair was now brittle, wild and white. He looked a lot older then he should, only a lack of severe wrinkles hinted that was only in his forties. At least it didn't look like he'd been horribly tortured, that was a plus. Ron didn't say anything to him but the way any hint of joviality bled out of his face when he saw him said enough, he didn't meet his eyes and just silently went back upstairs with the food.

They handed the breakfast out, making sure the Koray kids ate because they were looking underweight and admitted to barely being given anything in the few weeks of their imprisonment. They then set them up in the front room to get some rest, aided by a Sleeping Draught as they had been up all night and had been through a lot. Thanks but to him, not that they seemed to know that. It was only after they cleaned up the dishes he really got a chance to talk with Abby since the Healers were still busy and would be for a long time, he filled her in and she caught him up including on what she'd meant before in regards to not telling Albus.

"Wow, he's going to be devastated," Scorpius thought aloud upon learning Albus' mother had been killed.

"I know," Abby sighed heavily from opposite him, picking at the last of her food, "I'm dreading telling him."

"Why haven't you?"

"He's still drifting in and out of consciousness, we just want to wait until he's awake more and doing a bit better," Abby explained before noticing her sister walking by, "Hey Heather, have you eaten yet?"

"No," Heather answered shortly, her expression stony.

"You should eat, there's still some left," Abby insisted and her tone became more pleading when Heather said nothing, "Come, sit with us."

Heather said nothing but her eyes glanced to the plates of spare food in the center of the center of the table, she slowly picked up a spare plate from the pile and tossed some food onto it then begrudgingly sat in the seat between them. They were clearly sisters, they had the exact same hue of milky skin and he exact same shade of golden blond hair except Abby's was all tied back into a large braid that trailed down her back while Heather's was only neck length. He thought Heather was objectively more attractive too, she was also taller and had a very athletic build. They carried themselves very differently though, Heather reminded him bizarrely of John with the same kind of stoic guardedness.

"So you said Molly is doing better?" Abby asked of him to restart the conversation as Heather had just started eating in silence, Scorpius nodded, "Well that's good, I'm sure Al will be pleased."

"You shouldn't have saved her," Heather spoke up abruptly, startling the both of them to be so blunt, "She's an adult and she signed up to be a soldier, she knew the risks."

"So that means we shouldn't try to save our own people?" Scorpius demanded, disliking that mindset in general and Heather's cold eyes slid to him.

"No, it means we shouldn't put thousands of innocent lives at risk to save people who _willingly_ agreed to put thousands of innocent lives before their own."

"Well you don't know what it's like…" Scorpius muttered more lamely, he couldn't argue she was devoid of a point there.

"I know exactly what its like," Heather told him coldly, an empty bitter smile curling the corners of her mouth, "I've seen and I've tortured scores of people for the Soul Eaters when they forced me to work for them, so I know _exactly_ what they put torture victims through."

"I'm sorry," Abby offered, looking at her sister with a mixture of horror, sympathy and guilt. Heather didn't even look at her, instead merely shrugging and continued eating. An uncomfortable silence contained solely to the small breakfast table descended, despite knowing she'd done bad things for the Shadows he still found it chilling to know she was involved with the barbaric torture they inflicted.

"So… how's your fiancé doing?" Scorpius asked Abby, trying to think of something to break the silence and she hadn't mentioned him. This time it was Heather's turn to look surprised and she turned on her sister in shock before Abby could respond.

"Albus is your fiancé?!" Heather wondered, her stoic expression breaking for the first time.

"What? No! Why would you think that?!" Abby countered, flustered and her face went scarlet.

"I don't know because you spend every waking second pouring over him or worrying that you're not pouring over him," Heather explained in confusion, "And this is the first I've heard of a fiancé, I just assumed…"

"Well it's not Al! He's just my friend," Abby answered quickly, very quickly, "You know? I've only been friends with him my whole life, he's one of my best friends and why _wouldn't_ I be worried about him? He's in bad shape and there's been so much dea- I'm sure Scorpius would be doing _exactly_ the same if he were here."

"Um…" Scorpius murmured unsurely, of course he was worried about his friend but Heather made it sound kind of extreme and Molly would still be his priority. Thankfully the Longbottom sisters seemed not to notice his failed attempt at saying nothing.

"Okay…" Heather said slowly, "So who is this fiancé then?"

"Sequoia Pentakel," Abby offered readily, Heather continued to look at her.

"Christa's brother. What's he like?"

"Well he's… he's smart. And nice," Abby answered with a nod but Heather continued to gaze at her, "He's really nice… Tell her, Scorpius, you've met him."

"He's really nice," Scorpius confirmed at her command, he had no qualms with the former Ravenclaw. He felt like he was ignored though as Heather kept her piercing gaze on her sister, it seemed to be making Abby uncomfortable.

" _What?!"_

"Nothing," Heather answered quickly, finally breaking eye contact and leaning back, "It's just a little odd you haven't mentioned him once this entire time."

"I've just had other things on my mind and I know he's safe already, it's not weird. Right, Scor?" Abby said, again turning to him and Scorpius didn't immediately say anything. He didn't want to lose one of the friends still talking to him but he was with Heather here, he did think it was kind of weird though he was hardly an expert.

"Haven't you gone to see him or anything?" Scorpius wondered of her, after all she'd earned her apparation license and knew where he lived, "He's probably worried about you."

"I haven't seen him but its fine, we saved his sisters still in Hogwarts so they should've told him that I was okay so he has no reason to worry."

"You haven't been worried about him?" Heather asked.

"We get told about attacks, I know where he lives and he's fine," Abby insisted though she looked uncomfortable, she fell quiet for a moment and resumed eating, "Is it really that weird?"

Heather gave a shrug and immediately returned to her food, Scorpius followed suit. It wasn't really any of his business and he didn't consider himself particularly knowledgeable on the subject, he also had more pressing things on his mind. He wondered if Heather felt the same. Abby told him later that Heather was dating Latimer, it was very surprising to him and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. He should probably be happy for his friend and Heather was Abby's sister but… well, Heather kind of unnerved him and he didn't want Latimer to get hurt. He didn't think he should tell Abby that though, especially not based on her reaction to asking about her sister.

"It's weird, I got my sister back but she's more like a stranger," Abby admitted later when Heather had gone back to the base and they'd just finished up the dishes, "She says I only worry about Al but I worry about her a lot too, you know? She's clearly been through a lot and… well, she's the only siblings I have left now."

"Yeah," Scorpius muttered as sorrow drifted through Abby's eyes as he was sure guilt went through his, her brothers were both dead now. Ironically both had died in Hogwarts, Nick had been killed by Florian a few years ago and August by Lysander in the attack that Scorpius had indirectly caused. From what he'd heard, her poor dad had taken his youngest's death terribly as well, "I um… I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you," Abby offered quietly, averting her eyes, "I'm not mad at you by the way, not anymore."

"Thanks," Scorpius mumbled out in reply, not sure how he was supposed to respond to that. He was glad she wasn't mad anymore, he wasn't either, "This isn't the time for anger."

"Yeah, we don't stand much of a chance against the Shadows if we keep tearing ourselves apart," Abby agreed and sighed, "Wish Michael got that, any excuse to bite someone's head off. Before the full moon he almost came to blows with Maximus, something about not trusting him to care for Al since he bullied him back in First Year."

"Maybe it's just the full moon," Scorpius suggested though kind of doubting it as he recalled Michael's rage a few weeks ago, "I mean he's already grieving so… it's rough."

"So are all of us but we're doing our best to keep it together," Abby insisted before they were distracted by the door opening, bushy brown hair identifying the newcomer but Rose's mum left almost as soon as she'd entered.

"So she hates me."

"No. Well, she might but it's probably not why she bailed," Abby offered quickly before she stood, "She's had an upset stomach recently, I think it might be stress about Rose… I'll go make sure she's alright."

"Okay."

On that note, Abby stood up and went after her which left Scorpius alone with his thoughts in the quiet. Not silence, on his peripheral hearing he was aware of footsteps and voices from elsewhere in the house, water running – he knew some of the others were getting showers. It was all distant sound though, none of it was in his immediate vicinity. He was alone, listening to the gentle ticking of his pocket watch marking the seconds of his life trickling away.

He pulled the silver out idly, a wizard's coming of age that meant even more since it was a gift from Varanian. Of course, Varanian seemed to have no idea it belong to Jack the Ripper. He ran his fingers over the Latin inscription he didn't understand, he scowled slightly as thoughts occurred to him. What did it mean? Or rather had Savas engraved this text? If so, did it mean anything important?

"Scorpius?" a voice questioned and Scorpius looked back up, seeing Hermione had entered with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh hey, Abby just went to check on you," Scorpius offered, pocketing his watch.

"I'm fine," Hermione brushed it aside quickly as she approached him, folding her arms, "And I saw Abby, Albus is awake and thirsty so she went to get him a drink. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"Um sure, go ahead."

"You know where Varanian is, right?"

"Right."

"Well can you tell him I need to speak to him about something? It's important."

"What's it about?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"I'd rather wait to talk to Varanian about it, the sooner the better."

"Okay… well, I'll pass the word along later then," Scorpius agreed and Hermione nodded in acknowledgement before leaving.

He was intrigued as to what Hermione would want to talk to Varanian about, it didn't come across as basic as just wanting to know what the plan was. He didn't really see her the rest of the day, she and her husband seemed to be on caring for the werewolves – the ones at the Embry's house anyway – duty which made sense since one of them was their only remaining child, one of them was also Michael so Scorpius stayed away, he didn't really want to accidently aggravate him.

When things stopped being so critical, the Healers allowed him in again so he got to spend some time with Wyatt. They seemed to have finally stabilized Marigold though he was still unconscious and very pale, his breathing was pretty weak. Byron was sleeping peacefully and the healers were now working on Professor Koray, Sebastian was still sleeping as well but he had to be weak from the full moon anyway. Wyatt – who needed to take Blood-Replenishing Potion regularly so couldn't take a Sleeping Draught like the rest - did give him a full report on what had happened so he could tell Varanian, enlightening him on how he'd managed to upset Sebastian before. Albus was also there of course, Scorpius said hi but not much else since he fell asleep too quickly. He hadn't forgotten Vern's message.

"Will they be okay?" Scorpius asked of Hogan later that evening when they were finally on their way back, he waited until Hogan had apparated them.

"Pre-existing medical conditions notwithstanding , all the underage kids will be fine. Koray and Wyatt will have more of a rough road for recovery but should be okay, long as we can keep up their treatments. Marigold's touch and go, he's gotta fight this so… he's probably dead," Hogan answered him dismissively as they approached the house, he opened the door for them, "If you mean your friend then he's doing well, he's through the worst of it and is just on the mend."

"That's… good, mostly," Scorpius offered as they went inside unsure of what else to say, Hogan gave a dismissive shrug, "Good job."

"Whatever. Got to go check on Oathan and look at the werewolves since you guys were freaking out over them this morning.

"You remember that?" Scorpius wondered in surprise as Hogan started up the stairs.

"Duh!" Hogan called back irritably, sounding offended Scorpius thought he might've forgotten. Or maybe not, he was a pretty irritable person.

Scorpius left him to it and instead wandered into the front room, Varanian was still sleeping so telling him anything would have to wait. He went on into the kitchen expecting maybe Leebin working on dinner so he could bring it to Molly, instead he was shocked to see Molly herself was there. She and Maurene were sitting at the counter, some crayons and parchment sprawled between them.

"Molly!" Scorpius couldn't help but exclaim when he saw her and smile, it was great to see her up and about again, "You're up!"

"Well yeah, Hogan said I could," Molly pointed out as if it were obvious, sparing him a glance as he approached.

"Molly's drawing with me!" Maurene told him excitedly as he reached them, he picked up the nearest picture which was pretty poor and looked like some kind of dog.

"Wow, what a cool dog you drew," Scorpius offered encouragingly to the child.

" _I_ drew that," Molly told him with a frown while Maurene giggled, Scorpius felt his cheeks burn a little at his mistake, "And it's not a dog, it's a goat. Those are its horns."

"I thought they were its ears," Scorpius mumbled in embarrassment.

"What kind of dog has ears like that?"

"Silly Scorpius," Maurene chuckled, shaking her head at him and going back to coloring something vomit green, "Do you need glasses?"

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized, not having realized how bad Molly was at drawing though missing some fingers probably contributed to that. The ship she was currently working on was looking better or more recognizable, "That ship looks good."

"Thanks. It's the Argo Navis," Molly told him.

"Cool."

"I'm drawing Daddy killing Inferi," Maurene told him cheerfully, letting him see the half drawn picture of Leebin stabbing vomit colored people shapes.

"Very nice," Scorpius complimented her as well, thinking it was kind of disturbing but then Molly's drawing subject was pretty random too. It didn't dampen his spirits though as he glanced back to his girlfriend, smiling again. He was just glad she up and about now, not being bedridden anymore was a massive improvement.


	13. IIX: A Hole in the House

_**Thanks to:** Colin Creevey, percyjackson42, Cal and ChakraKitty for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 _ **Why does he (Sly) want to be a Shadow?**  
Because he hates the world, he was extremely unhappy in his old life and siding with the Shadows gives him a chance of things to be better_

 _ **Where did he (Cyrus) become the world class jerk?**  
Cyrus has daddy issues, he's got a lot of anger and resentment for Roman and he doesn't like the Shadows, four years of this and it's just really weighing on him manifesting more as frustration, he's fed up of being the tortured victim he wants out_

 _ **Michael is bashing Maximus too? I mean, Scorpius I understand but Maximus too? Is there anyone Michael is NOT angry at?**  
Michael is just on a short fuse right now, he's a bubbling cauldron of pain and rage with no outlet so it's easy for anyone to set him off_

 _ **Is Hermione still Law Enforcement Head?**  
Yes  
_

 _ **Does she (Hermione) have- any contact with Alaric?**  
Yes  
_

 _ **Is something wrong with her (Maurene)? Or was she just acting like a fan of her dad?**  
No she's fine and in fact is a lot better off mentally then a lot of the other child characters, Scorpius was concerned by the grim imagery but she was doing it out of admiration/love for her dad and it helps her cope  
_

 _ **Is Heather gonna be ok emotionally?**  
Probably not in the near future  
_

 _ **Why does Cyrus hate Maurice and orous?**  
He doesn't, he hates Roman and as they're Roman's children he just doesn't want anything to with them  
_

 _ **Won't he (Cyrus) have to deal when he finds out mommy's dead?**  
Yep but remember he doesn't know that yet  
_

 _ **Why do Ron and hermionie dislike score?**  
They don't exactly dislike him but they don't really like him either, Rose died in Hogwarts so they're devastated. For Ron its more that Scorpius just reminds him of the whole thing, he's very glad Molly (who is his niece and he blames himself for his capture as she was saving him at the time) is okay but is very hurt about Rose. For Hermione she's just trying to distract herself from her personal problems by throwing herself into this with intense focus, she didn't treat Scorpius any differently to how she is with almost everyone right now  
_

* * *

Scorpius went to bed in a better mood then he had in weeks, it might not have gone perfectly but everyone had still gotten out of Hogwarts and even though some were still not out of the woods it could've gone a lot worse, and then of course he was happy Molly was up and about now. Small victories maybe but it was still more victory then they'd had the past few weeks.

The next day was much calmer, Varanian – who Scorpius was starting to get a little concerned about - was still sleeping so Scorpius just relaxed in the house with Molly and Maurene who they were watching since Leebin was dealing with the werewolves while Hogan bounced between there and the Embrys as Oathan needed some kind of healing attention at some point but otherwise the Hogwarts survivors needed it more. He and Molly – who insisted on helping to some degree – also did all the housework, cooking, cleaning, tending to Hogan's owl - the creatively named 'Owl' - and tutoring Maurene. He assumed the next day would be more of the same, he was proven wrong when making breakfast.

"Hey," Varanian greeted him and Scorpius spun so quickly he almost dropped the pan in shock, seeing Varanian wandering in casually and quickly shoved it back on the stove out of the way. He was looking healthier, his eyes were still one gray and on blue but they were no longer bloodshot or shadowed with dark rings of exhaustion. His scruffy tawny hair had an unusual amount of gray in it still and his scars were still visible though, he still looked older too.

"Hey, how… um… how are you feeling?" Scorpius asked him somewhat nervously as Varanian leaned on the counter, no longer seeming unsteady or close to collapsing. Though up close, Scorpius noticed he could smell better.

"Physically better, I guess," Varanian told him, definitely sounding more with it, "I don't feel tired anymore."

"You still look different."

"Well this is what I look like, I still can't change my appearance," Varanian said a little more irritably before he sighed, "So how long was I out? I was thinking they might change the security around Hogwarts for the full moon since they have that werewolf kid and all so it could give us an opening to act."

"Oh," Scorpius muttered awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head and somehow doubting Varanian was going to be pleased to learn how long he'd slept for, "Um… Well you don't have to worry about it, Wyatt escaped with everyone while you were out and they're at the Embrys right now."

" _What?!"_

"Don't worry, it's all good. Or mostly good," Scorpius changed his sentence midway through as he realized it wasn't all good news, Varanian was ogling him in shock and he thought the he smelled breakfast burning, "Why don't you go have a shower while I finish breakfast and then I'll fill you in on everything that happened?"

"Did I really miss that much?" Varanian wondered, scowling as he stepped back.

"Later," Scorpius assured him as he yanked the pan off the stove, waving his hand to waft aside the smoke while Varanian left passing Hogan on the way in.

"This is what you get for trying to avoid having porridge for breakfast," Hogan told him smugly.

"Shut up, Hogan," Scorpius complained at him, "And why can't Varanian change his appearance still? He was asleep for a week."

"A metamorphmagus' ability to change their appearance is on them, it's not something that can be healed its linked to their own mental state," Hogan explained, holding up his hands as if innocent, "I dealt with his exhaustion, while he was out I also dealt with his dehydration and starvation to normalize his body again. I did what I could, the rest is on him."

"Well did you deal with the werewolves?" Scorpius sighed, getting some plates out for the food and realizing he hadn't had the chance to ask with Hogan – who went over to begin making porridge - being busy.

"Forcibly changing forms is basically fraying Lamb's already damaged nerves causing intense pain, I'm going to take him to the Embrys – they have some potions I don't have here - whenever he's up for it to try ease it. And I don't know about Lysel, I've checked him thoroughly but nothing seems different to usual so I'm just keeping an eye on him but I'm suspecting it's probably just part of his condition he's always had and just didn't use until now. I'll talk to him about it when he's doing better."

"Talk to- to who?" a familiar voice wondered and Scorpius saw Lamb walking in, looking and sounding tired as he came over and sat at the counter. No doubt he wasn't completely over the full moon yet, "S- Smells g- g- good, Sc- Scorpius."

"It's burnt."

"I- I- I l- lived o- on the st- streets for a l- long time, I- I'm no- not picky and its n- nice to eat a- at all," Lamb offered with sincerity that had Hogan shake his head and mutter something Scorpius didn't quite catch but it was something along the lines of 'idiot,' "D- Do you want an- any help?"

"No!" Hogan barked at him instantly which startled Lamb so much he jumped, "If you're walking about you can come with me to work on your wrist so you need to stay rested."

"O- Okay," Lamb muttered and something occurred to him as he was dividing up the breakfast.

"Hey Ephraim, didn't you say you know Latin?" Scorpius wondered of him and Lamb nodded, his head bobbing more times than necessary as he did.

"Morning," Molly offered as she walked in, causing all thoughts of letting Lamb look at his pocket watch to evacuate his mind and he smiled again at just seeing her walking around again.

He finished and they got everyone fed while Varanian was in the shower, saving some for Varanian himself of course. After that Hogan left with Lamb and true to his word, Scorpius filled in Varanian while he ate. As expected, Varanian wasn't particularly happy to learn how long he'd been out.

"A _week?!_ " Varanian spluttered out, trying to rage but choking on his porridge instead, "That bloody lunatic put me out for a whole week?! And you didn't think to wake me?!"

"You wouldn't have slept that much if you didn't need it," Scorpius said defensively, Varanian had continued to glower but went quiet.

Scorpius took this as his cue to continue, going on to talk about Wyatt's escape and everything he'd learned about what had gone down – all of which all would have happened regardless as to whether Varanian had been awake or not. Then talking about the aftermath, how everyone was doing and how he'd given permission for Maurice's family to join so Tabitha could help with the healing. This all had Varanian frowning by the end of it.

"Well that's great," Varanian sighed, sitting back and pushing his long empty plate away, "We've just lost our best spy."

"What?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, "I just said Wyatt is-"

"Alive, I know. But if James knows he's an animagus now he'll pass the word along and Wyatt's not going to be able to spy if they know what to be on the lookout for, assuming he even could with his eye gone," Varanian explained unhappily, idly fiddling with his empty glass, "I mean, it's good he and the others got out and all but… it's still not great. We never seem to get a victory that doesn't come with a but, with Aurelius dead and my birthright failing me we're essentially out of spies."

"Well we can survive without spies," Scorpius insisted optimistically, "We have more former Shadows then ever at our disposal right now - including a former Lieutenant! It's not like spies have the information we need most right now anyway."

"I guess," Varanian shrugged though his expression didn't change, putting the glass down and Scorpius thought the lull was good enough to inform of the final piece of information he had to share.

"Hermione wanted to see you by the way, not sure what about but she said the sooner the better."

"Oh?" Varanian wondered, his expression turning to one of bemusement, "Huh, well I guess I can go find out what that's all about."

"What? Right now?" Scorpius said in surprise as Varanian stood, flicking his wand lazily causing the utensils to fly to the sink and begin cleaning themselves.

"Yeah, why not? Are you coming?"

"Um… Sure," Scorpius agreed quickly as Varanian was already leaving, he quickly passed this information along to Molly and Maurene in the front room while Varanian just walked outside.

"We really need to work on you apparating," Varanian offered when Scorpius joined him, holding out his horribly scarred hand which Scorpius took with his own horribly scarred hand. He was then apparated them both back to the Embrys, quickly heading inside and Scorpius followed.

"Pip!" Richard Embry – who looked like he'd been coming to get the door - exclaimed, looking relieved to see Varanian and greeted him with a hug, "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Varanian brushed it off dismissively as he pulled away, "Is Hermione here? She wanted to speak to me."

"Oh yeah, she's here. Why don't you wait in the front room and I'll find her?"

"Okay, thanks Richard."

Richard went off to find Hermione while Varanian wandered into the front room, Scorpius almost made to follow but decided to spare a glace across the hall into the dining turned hospital room as the door was open. It was brimming with activity, a lot of the people had loved ones with them and the Healers were around. Including Michael. Scorpius followed Varanian into the other room before Michael could spot him, wondering if his friend had cooled off enough to talk to yet. Varanian had picked up one of the photographs from the shelf, one of himself and Ethel on their wedding day.

"You know Richard was the best man at our wedding? I really didn't have anyone else, I barely knew anyone there," Varanian said to him as he replaced the photograph solemnly and swallowed, "I… I had hoped that… I had hoped that when I married Annie it would be different, and I… I was going to ask you to be the best man. Pretty stupid, right?"

"Varanian…" Scorpius started to say, his heart going out to him as he tried to think of something comforting but was interrupted anyway by Richard returning with Hermione.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Hermione stated formally as she took a seat on the couch, Scorpius and Varanian remained standing.

"Of course," Varanian offered while Richard sat in the armchair closest to him, rubbing his knee and looking like he was relieved to sit rather than particularly interested in the conversation, "What it is?"

"I want to broker an alliance between the Ministry and Gray."

"An alliance?" Varanian repeated, giving a derisive snort as he plopped down in the other armchair facing Hermione. His scarred lips curled into a bitter semblance of an expression to empty to be a smile, "Why? So Potter can lock us all up and torture us now?"

"This has nothing to do with Harry," Hermione brushed it aside unconcerned by his reaction, "Harry isn't the Minister, Alaric is and he wants an alliance, if Harry doesn't like it then that's his problem."

"Uh-huh," Varanian mused, not looking even slightly convinced and exchanging a doubt-riddled look with Scorpius, "Why would they want an alliance with us anyway?"

"Information. Alaric needs the spies to be out of his hair and Gray knows their identities, or many of their identities anyway along with a spell to detect the corruption in Shadows' wands which should mark any spies we're missing."

"But we don't have proof and we found all of this through illegal means so he can't act on it, I developed that spell on stolen wands too."

"Alaric's about to declare a State of Emergency that'll give him the power to do anything he needs, such as arresting suspected Shadow spies now so they can't kill us all and worry about proof when it's safe to do so."

"Would we get anything out of it?" Varanian wondered, still looking extremely unconvinced.

"It's not about 'we' anymore, there is no us and them!" Hermine said more passionately before jabbing her finger towards the window, "The world is falling apart around us out there and we _need_ to band together or we won't be able to stop it, not just Gray or the Ministry but _all_ of us. The Ministry are the ones who've been evacuating, who've been giving shelter to the populace, who've been dealing with the fallout from the Shadow Master's attacks right now because they have manpower and resources that Gray doesn't have. On the other hand Gray has had as much success in holding off the Shadows as you've had because you can work outside of what they can, you've been able to access knowledge they don't then act and you haven't had the same issues holding you back. There's strengths and weaknesses in both, we need to be working together right now to consolidate our strengths and minimize our weaknesses as best we can, it doesn't benefit any of us when one is doing poorly and it only benefits us when one is succeeding. We're _not_ opposing factions, we're two sides of the same coin."

"I-" Varanian started to say but he was cut off by loud knocking, Richard heaved a sigh and made to force himself up.

"I'll get it," Scorpius offered, making his way out of the room and Richard threw him a grateful look.

"Thank you," Richard said.

Scorpius closed the door behind him to keep the conversation more private and made his way to the front door, despite the high number of people and the fact the door was open it seemed no one in the dining turned hospital room had heard the door. Maybe they hadn't heard it exactly because it was busy in there, or maybe they just ignored it as it was Richard's house. At any rate, Scorpius opened the door readily and gasped at what he saw.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting but it was not for Professor Ashain's kids to be standing at the door, or one of them was standing. Both of them were dirty and unkempt, not just like they hadn't slept or changed since he'd last seen them weeks ago but strangely dusty like they'd rolled around in rubble. They were sporting mostly healed minor scrapes and burns too by the looks of it, their clothes were a little ragged and torn. Antonius was leaning so heavily on Cassia the only reason Scorpius knew he wasn't completely unconscious was the knowledge she wouldn't be able to support him otherwise, his leg had a filthy, poorly tied bloody bandage wrapped around it.

"Anton!" Scorpius cried when he realized the state of his leg, immediately scooping the small boy up into his arms.

Only when holding him did he notice that Antonius was trembling, gazing down at his face he also saw how unhealthily and unusually devoid of color it was. Strands of extremely dark auburn hair were plastered to his sickly pale forehead, his dark chestnut eyes were trying to flutter open weakly. He felt as if he took an icy to the stomach, forcefully feeling reminded of his father.

"I need help over here, Antonius is injured!" Scorpius called out to no one in particular as he walked into the crowded room.

"N- No, I'm fine!" Antonius stammered out weakly, struggling suddenly and pitifully in his arms to try get down before his body immediately slumped as his strength failed him, tears pricked his eyes, "I- I can be useful! D- Don't throw me out..."

"No one's throwing you out," Scorpius assured him gently while others rushed about, Wyatt got up so they could use his bed and Hogan gestured for him to place Antonius down on it so they could look at him. Scorpius laid him down but Antonius resisted, grabbing his arm frantically.

"No! No! Please! I c- can help! Let m- me make the team, I can Quidditch…"

"Calm down, we're trying to help you," Scorpius offered in complete confusion as he backed away so Hogan and Michael could look at him, thankfully Michael looked as concerned as he felt and that seemed to trump his anger at Scorpius, "Also, what?"

"He's kind of out of it," Cassia pointed out as the healers started waving their wands over him.

Scorpius glanced back to her and saw she'd followed him in along with Antonius' massive dog who tried to sniff him interestedly. He caught her eye and despite being the exact same shade as Antonius' he was reminded more of Ashylos, the insurmountable strength they had. Her expression was also very reminiscent of Varanian's current solid stoic visage, he was sure she was concerned for her brother but she didn't let it crack her exterior.

"What incompetent idiot treated his leg?" Hogan complained and Scorpius glanced back, seeing they were removing the bandage to show off and a large, jagged puss-filled wound with angry red streaks spiraling out from it.

"I did," Cassia said icily, Hogan spared her a brief look and his expression softened maybe slightly.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked of her, she folded her arms and leaned back against the doorframe.

"Shadows. When we ran away to rejoin Gray we were caught on the edge of one of the Shadow Master's attacks, Anton's leg was broken- like way worse than this, the bone was sticking out and everything," Cassia explained, sounding a little more like the child she was, "I tried to put it back in and bandage it, Anton said we should clean it so we tried that but he's just been getting worse. He has a fever and he's been getting more out of it, we think the leg's infected."

"No shit," Hogan scoffed as he started waving his wand over Antonius' leg, probably some kind of diagnostic spells.

"Why did you even run away in the first place?" Scorpius questioned with a sigh even though he already knew the answer, "You know it's not safe out there, and if you wanted to come back here there had to be a better way."

"I told Varanian I would," Cassia said coldly while Antonius' dog lay down in between them, "That bitch murdered my father, if you think I was going to sit by and do nothing while the world dies after fucking _everything_ we've been through then you're a fool. This is _my_ fight, this has been my whole life, take me back as much as you want but I won't stop. I'm never going to give up this fight."

"That's Varanian and his stupid fucking decisions," Michael spat darkly and Scorpius turned back to him, immediately defensive but Hogan spoke first and completely distracted him.

"Michael, shut up," Hogan stated plainly, "We're probably going to amputate his leg so if you feel like picking petty fights then go away."

" _What?!"_ Scorpius, Michael and Cassia all exclaimed at once.

"NO! Don't take my leg!" Antonius cried and tried to push Hogan away from him, it was a pitifully weak attempt that Hogan brushed aside without effort. Antonius fell back, tears bubbling from his eyes, "Don't take my leg! Mummy, I don't want to go school…"

"Amputating the leg is completely unnecessary!" Michael turned on Hogan angrily.

"Michael, his leg is fucked," Hogan pointed out calmly, gesturing to the wounded leg, "The injury occurred weeks ago and now it's riddled with infection, we can probably salvage the leg but we won't be able to heal it completely. The damage is severe enough that no matter what we do he won't be able to use the leg properly, he'll barely be able to _walk_ with it and will likely need a cane just for that. If we amputate then we'll be able to give him a prosthetic, he's young enough to adapt he'll have a full range of motion again-"

"You're making it out worse than it actually is!"

"I'm sorry, which one of us is a dumb bratty teen and which one of us is an experienced Healer with forty-five years of experience?" Hogan wondered incredulously and Scorpius noticed Michael's fist clench, "He'll have a better quality of life with a prosthetic that lets him do everything he could before then his own leg that'll leave him crippled."

"We can't even get magical prosthetic legs for the amputee patient we already have, cut off his leg and he'll just have no leg!" Michael shot back instead which did seem to give Hogan pause, "Not to mention the weeks it'll take before his stump is settled enough to give him a prosthetic in the first place!"

"A temporary setback. That's the only negative."

"It's basically the apocalypse outside, a temporary setback could be his death and it's not the only negative, what about cutting off an _eleven year old_ child's leg?!"

"Clearly your personal investment is clouding your judgement."

"That doesn't mean I'm wrong!" Michael insisted while Hogan glanced around the room scowling.

"Damn it, where is Tabitha when you need her," Hogan complained distractedly while Maximus came back over with some potions, one of which Hogan immediately took and administered to Antonius, " _She'd_ back me up on this, or that other guy."

"Hacking off a child's leg when it's not a hundred percent necessary is not okay and they'd agree with that!"

"Isn't it really something we should ask next of kin about?" Maximus wondered while Antonius' eyes fluttered shut, Scorpius thought the potion might've been a Sleeping Draught as none of the healers seemed surprised or concerned by this, "Amputation is pretty drastic, he's just a kid…"

"I'm his next of kin and I say don't chop his fucking leg off!" Cassia spoke up defensively to which Hogan rolled his eyes but kept focused on Antonius' leg, waving his wand over it in one hand and pouring another potion over the wound which Scorpius realized was cleaning out the pus.

"You're a child, I mean the parent or guardian legally responsible for the minor," Hogan stated dismissively, still focused on what he was doing.

"And since she's the closest we got, its all the more reason to _not_ make such an irreversible life-altering decision that is no way necessary for his survival!" Michael continued defensively.

"Sometimes you have to make a call about what is in the patient's best interests."

"It's in his best interests to keep his leg!"

"What's with all the yelling?" a familiar voice wondered and Scorpius turned to see Varanian approaching, behind him Hermione – who looked like she was about to throw up - was moving away quickly with Richard in the direction of the bathroom.

"Antonius and Cassia showed up, he was injured by Shadows," Scorpius explained, gesturing vaguely to the scene in front of them while Antonius' dog got up to sniff Varanian with its tail wagging excitedly, "There's some… disagreement about how to treat him."

"How did you get here?" Varanian wondered of Cassia while batting the dog away, surprise making it through his otherwise stony expression and the dog went back to lying down in the middle of them.

"Because of your stupid decisions, how do you think?!" Michael snapped at him immediately, his eyes flashing with rage as he turned on him, "What the fuck did you expect to happen when you abandon two kids in a terrible home situation with a horrible parent who is probably glad they're gone in the middle of a war no less- of course they were going to run away! She even _told_ you that!"

"Well I didn't think they'd really do it," Varanian admitted, his eyes drifting over the scene, "Or get very far."

"Well they did and they got caught up in the attacks and now Antonius' leg is fucked so badly Hogan wants to cut it off! Great work you did, leader!"

"He was trying to protect them," Scorpius spoke up, defensive of Varanian. Even though he didn't agree with what Varanian had done, he knew he'd at least meant well and didn't deserve Michael's crap.

"Oh yeah? Just like he protected Annie?" Michael shot out, words writhing with anger he was sure he was desperate to get out but Scorpius knew they'd be incredibly hurtful to Varanian and sure enough, Varanian flinched at the mention of her name and immediately averted his eyes. Scorpius felt his own anger rising at the low blow.

"That wasn't his fault."

"How was it _not_ his fault?!" Michael yelled, gesturing wildly, "He had _months_ to abandon a base he _knew_ was potentially compromised or to at least send her a safer place but no, he kept the sick pregnant woman in the place he knew was at risk! It was also _his_ plan that failed spectacularly, failing to account for her going into labor and having complications got her – not to mention Dom, Aurelius and Austin as well – killed! Oh yeah and it was _his_ baby she was carrying that got her killed – in fact, add the poor baby to additional people he got killed! – in the first place, _he's_ the one that got her into the condition of being a sick pregnant woman! _He_ is the one who recruited her into Gray in the first place, dragged her into this whole mess away from her safe muggle life!"

"Michael, shut up!" Scorpius yelled at him, seeing Varanian's skin paling with ever sentence.

"No, I won't shut up!" Michael shot back and Scorpius noticed the one thing both he and Varanian had in common was the tears building behind their eyes, "My aunt is dead because of him! Annie was there for me in a way no one else was, she was an amazing person and she deserved better then to die a horrific death that should've been easily avoided. She had a life and a family and you took that from her, I loved her and now she's gone."

"Please stop talking about her," Varanian urged barely audibly, so quietly Scorpius wasn't entirely sure whether Michael ignored him or simply didn't hear.

"And you know what the worst part is?!" Michael continued, his anger rising again and his fists clenched once more, "You weren't even there! Not only are you responsible for fucking everything setting her up to die but when the Shadows came and she needed you the most, where were you?! You just left her to die in the hell you created! Did you think about her even once when she was being torn to shreds?! Did you care, Varanian?! Did you _ever_ care about her?!"

"Of course I cared!"

The second Varanian spoke there was as a tremendous bang like the crash of thunder - almost drowning the words completely – as the corner of the house exploded, splinters and dust showered down over those closest. Scorpius barely had time to notice a corner of the house was now missing, it had been completely blown out before Varanian turned on his heel and with a bang so violent Scorpius feared he splinched himself, disapparated.

Chaos erupted immediately, some people were screaming in panic while others gaped in confusion at the hole in the house, the dog started barking and ran over to Antonius protectively. Scorpius wasn't confused however and was the first to whip out his wand, waving it and with effortless skill the debris flew back to repair itself. Varanian had had an outburst of uncontrolled magic, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it happen when he was upset but this was the worst.

"What the hell, Michael?!" Scorpius demanded angrily of his friend, Michael looked back to him with his mouth hanging open but quickly recovered.

"What? You're blaming me for this?!" Michael wondered incredulously, gesturing to the newly repaired damage while others were rushing in from other parts of the house to see what had happened.

"It's just a magical outburst, relax!" Hogan called out to probably no one in particular.

"You're the one to blame! What were you thinking going off on him like that?!" Scorpius hissed at him, causing Michael to look angry again, "You're not special, you're not the only one who loved Annie, you're not the only one who's hurting right but you're the only one being a prick about it- of course he cared that his fiancée is dead! Get over yourself."

"Oh that's rich, you telling me to get over it when you're just as guilty as he is! Rose is dead because of you! And you just want me to get over it? To just ignore what you did? Like my aunt and one of best friends were nothing to me?! Fuck you, Scorpius!" Michael yelled back and seemed to have had enough of talk as he cocked his fist back, Scorpius slipped his wand into his hand-

" _Flipendo!_ "

At this, Michael was knocked back and slammed into the doorframe hard enough to dent the wood before his punch could connect. It wasn't Scorpius who had cast it though, it was not the spell he would've used and he favored nonverbal magic by a lot. He turned in surprise to see Cassia was the caster, Professor Ashain's wand still extended and held impressively steadily.

"My brother needs help not a fucking fight," Cassia told Michael in annoyance, Scorpius offered him a hand up but he refused it and got up himself.

"Yeah Michael," Abby spoke up in agreement, "You need to calm down, this isn't helping."

"You know what? Fine!" Michael spat, stalking past him towards the front door.

"Where are you going?!" Scorpius demanded of him, having a feeling he already knew the answer as Michael yanked the door open.

"For a drink!"

"Don't do that, you've been doing so well," Scorpius pleaded, his anger deflating due to disappointment.

"Well now I'm not! Are you coming, Lamb?" Michael shifted gears to address Lamb who was one of the ones milling about in the corridor drawn by the bang, he also had a drinking problem and-

"N- No, I- I'm good," Lamb spoke up surprisingly, shaking his head and holding up his hands, "I- I'm staying s- sober, I- I want to help."

"Fine," Michael reiterated, glaring at Lamb like he'd betrayed him before slamming the front door behind him as he left.


	14. IIX: Problems With Potters

_**Thanks to:** Colin Creevey and Cal for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Alaric is ABOUT to declare a state of emergency? What took him so long? Was it not an emergency before now?_**  
 _Because he wants to enact it when he has things he wants to enforce for sure, he worried if he declared it sooner they'd somehow be out of it by the time he was ready and needed the power it provided_

 _ **What was to stop previous Ministers from going full dictator? What allowed him to do it now? Did Scrimgeour just not have that bright idea?** _  
_It's new legislation Hermione worked on because of the reveal of magic, intended to give them one unified leader instead of dealing with the tedious power struggle so didn't exist for previous ministers_

 _ **What's gonna happen anyway? Are they gonna go for amputation or save the otherwise useless leg?** _  
_They're going to save the leg_

 ** _Michael's gone off for a drink so can't Hogan just do what he likes?_**  
 _No, there's high ranking people around who could stop him and standing around arguing instead of treating him is far worse so Hogan would rather go against his better judgement then waste too much time trying to convince them_

 ** _Why can't they get prosthetics by the way?_**  
 _Because St Mungo's was destroyed and its remnants (like prosthetics) are part of Ministry shelters now so prosthetics are there and they're places Gray avoid so they don't have access to those supplies_

 _ **Is Cassia short for Casseiopia?** _  
_Nope, Cassia is the whole name. Its Ancient Roman like all the Ashain first names_

* * *

Harry Potter slumped down at his desk while suppressing a yawn, the tiny room set aside from him in this shelter was a far cry from the spacious office he was used to but it served its purpose. It was very bare, the walls were a cold blue though the one across from him was taken up by a large map of the UK with all the places the Shadow Master had attacked marked, there were no windows or even the illusion of them. Apart from the map, there was a door, a chair and the desk stacked with reports because paperwork somehow managed to still be a thing. He didn't think it was a priority though, he'd been up since before dawn dealing with the latest attack and aftermath. This was the first time his feet had touched the floor since yesterday and he didn't feel like going through papers, he was tired and it all felt trivial anyway. His wife was dead, his best friends were missing, his protégé had been a traitor and his children… he had no idea where they were, if they were even alive or locked in some deep dark hole…

"Potter!" a voice he had become all too familiar with barked and he groaned inwardly.

Mrs Koray strode briskly into the room, predictably another set of files in her mannish hands. She was a big lady, not overweight at all but just… big, so much so that he suspected she had giant heritage. She was tall – taller than him – and had very broad soldiers, large hands and feet. She also had a very large bosom so you couldn't mistake her for a man, her face was homely though she wore makeup and her crimson lips matched her crimson nails. Her brown her was always tied back into a tight bun, she always wore black heels, black tights beneath her straight navy knee-length skirt and a navy blazer buttoned all the way up, the collar of a blouse could be seen and if it didn't change he might've thought she never changed. She always looked immaculate and professional which was pretty true to her personality, he'd never seen her so much as crack a smile but then he didn't even know her first name, she'd never offered it. He did know she was the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law though and since Hermione was missing, it put her as acting Head instead so he had to deal with her.

"Potter! You _need_ to go through these," Mrs Koray barked as she approached the desk, tossing the files down in front of him which had him scowl as he recognized them as reports from New Azkaban prison.

"I already _did_ ," Harry insisted, tossing them back closer to her, "That's why they have my signature on them."

"You're supposed to read them not just sign them."

"What makes you think I didn't read them?" Harry wondered incredulously, he knew full well he had to read them and had done so.

"Because if you had then you wouldn't have signed off on them," she informed him as seriously as she said anything else, her beady black eyes so severe he couldn't tell if she was glaring or just always looked like that. He had the feeling she didn't like him very much, not after what James had done to her son.

"What's wrong with them?"

"The reports are far too short and vague, they don't meet the basic standards and are incredibly lacking, they're also incredibly repetitive like they're just altering a pre-planned report instead of detailing how things actually are. Suicide rates are also unusually high, in such a controlled environment like this there's no excuse for this to be happening."

"Seriously?" Harry wondered, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill, "Suicide rates are high everywhere at a time like this and so what they're slacking on the reports? There's more pressing things right now then reading detailed reports on prisoners."

"New Azkaban and its prisoners are our responsibility, the Aurors guarding it are your men. Being a lower priority doesn't change the fact its part of the job, the same standards should be upheld. Rules and laws are made for a reason, you may not have a good history of following them but they're important all the same."

"Look, there are attacks every other day and my children are still missing-"

"So are mine!" Mrs Koray shot out angrily, "My eldest two are unaccounted for since Hogwarts fell, my husband also as he is a professor there. I can't help them right now but I can help others, I can do my job and if you can't do yours-"

"I'm doing my job! I just don't think looking into sloppy reports is worth our time right now-"

"Looking into sloppy reports is part of your job! We can't let our standards slip-"

"Look, New Azkaban is secure right now! That's what matters," Harry insisted with a note finality, "I'll tell Blythe and Arnett I expect better reports next time, happy?"

"Not really," Mrs Koray scoffed but nonetheless left him alone, she also left the reports.

He sighed and tossed them onto the pile of other reports, getting a fresh one out to fill out about today's attack while it was still fresh in his mind. As tedious as it was, these could actually be useful for trying to find any semblance of a pattern to these attacks to maybe predict the next one or noticing improvements in their dealing with the aftermath for the next one. And there _would_ be a next one, there was no way they'd get so lucky as Brutus dropping off an incapacitated Shadow Master again and they were no closer to defeating her then they had been since this whole thing began. He wished Dumbledore was there, he'd have a plan, he'd know everything about her- about everyone, he'd know what to do.

Harry finished up the report and suppressed another yawn, deciding he really should just go home and rest. He got up, tapping the report to have it fly into the correct place then headed out into the bustling corridors. He was immediately greeted by looks of loathing from many of the passersby, harkening back to certain points during his Hogwarts days. He – and the Auror Office in general – were not popular right now, they were blamed for losing the Shadow Master and no one was happy about it. As much as a stuck up sticker Mrs Koray could be, she actually treated fairer than most. He'd gone from the Boy Who Lived to the Man Who Lost the Shadow Master, he probably deserved it but he disagreed with them holding it against all Aurors. New Azkaban wasn't the only place with high rates of suicide right now and with the bar being dropped in favor of numbers, Aurors weren't exactly hardened veterans anymore- they had kids barely of age signed up who just wanted to help.

He reached the small room set aside for Flooing, again it was no grand atrium but it served its purpose. He tossed a handful of powder into the nearest one and called for the Burrow, since London – where he had lived in Grimmauld Place - had been destroyed he was staying at the Burrow. He stepped into the emerald flames, keeping his elbows tucked in as he hurtled through space and stepping out into the familiar Weasley kitchen which was full of Weasleys though sadly so many of them he'd grown up with were no longer there.

George was sitting closest to him, like Harry he and his family had lived in Diagon above the shop he and his twin had founded so were now homeless but also jobless and bunking at the Burrow. Despite this he was arguably doing better than most of his family, he was single but he'd divorced rather then been forcibly widowed and his two children were both alive and accounted for, so were his grandchildren. Not that he looked much like a grandfather, he had salt and pepper hair and was still missing an ear but otherwise looked good for his age. He was sitting opposite his eldest grandchildren, Charla, who was three and swinging her legs under the table as she chatted happily to him in between mouthfuls of spaghetti. She was healthily chunky and being mixed-race, had mocha colored skin but Weasley red pigtails much like her father's bright red dreadlocks though his skin was even darker.

Freddie was sitting beside George, a high chair beside him as he spooned food into the eager face of his middle child. Little Lulu had recently turned one, she had a healthy amount of baby fat and very dark skin like her dad and grandma but her hair was coming in blond like her mother. Her mother being Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin Birch, a pretty blond with milky white skin in complete contrast to Freddie. She'd probably been sitting opposite her boyfriend but was walking into the other room now, cradling the youngest and only boy, Godric, who was starting to cry. He'd only been born a couple of months ago – making him the youngest member of the family in general - and shared his mother's milky skin, his most distinguishing feature however was the large mop of Weasley red hair he'd been born with.

Bill was sitting on the other side of the high chair, he didn't live in London so still had his home - and even was sharing it with his only surviving child Victoire and her husband Teddy, both of whom had been made homeless as they lived in London – but still visited frequently. He had his one and only grandchild plopped on his knee, Cres Ashain, who was also one and was devouring the food his grandfather gave him. Cres was very much an Ashain, he had the same extremely dark auburn hair and dark chestnut eyes they all had though Harry thought his flawless face was more reminiscent of his mother and his Veela heritage. Apart from a scar on his arm where his kidnappers must've cut him, the infant was in otherwise good health and Harry thought it had been weirdly good for Bill. He hadn't approved of his daughter's marriage to a much older man and had been distant for a while, wanting nothing to do with their child. Either her death or the kidnapping – or a combination of both - had prompted him to change his tune though, he doted on the now orphaned Cres and was much more involved with the rest of the family again, he was much more like himself again.

Victoire, Teddy and Roxy were either at work – they all worked at the Ministry, Victoire and Teddy as Aurors while Roxy was in Law with Mrs Koray – or not there currently as the only other people at the table was the elder Molly and Vale Rooke, the rest of the family were dead or unaccounted for. Vale wasn't exactly a Weasley or a Potter, he was Cel's son by Gabrielle Delacour though and was Harry's godson, he was also what Ginny had died for when Cel had come to cut the toddler open and leave him to a slow, painful death. Harry had taken him in, as unnerving as it sometimes was to gaze into his protégé's mirror, Vale was just as much a victim of his father as anyone else.

Vale had confided him Cel used the Cruciatus Curse on him numerous times for a long time, by the sound of it he'd also essentially poison Vale's food which was why it had always been a struggle to make him eat. Harry had never realized how much it was possible to be jealous of another child's ability to eat, finding himself envious of Freddie and Bill for the ease their children ate. Molly had the tot on her knee, holding his frail body lovingly as she tried coax him into eating the half-gone food in front of him. It wasn't that easy to undo years of damage by Cel but they were trying, he still seemed extremely depressed but as pitiful as it was a half-gone plate was better than before. The pale, sandy-haired boy looked up at him as he approached, he'd be a beautiful child if not for the sadness in his eyes. Regardless, Harry put on a welcoming smile as he came and sat beside them.

"How you doing, Vale?" Harry asked of the boy, he was trying to be encouraging.

"Okay," Vale muttered quietly, "You missed dinner. We had sketti and I got to help cooking."

"You were a great little helper, weren't you?" Molly assured him, giving Vale a gentle smile and rubbing his arm. Vale nodded and the ghost of a smile crossed his lips for a fragment of a second at the praise, "You helped mix up the sauce, learned how to stir."

"There are some leftovers if you're hungry by the way, Harry," George pointed out.

"Can I eat it?" Charla asked hopefully, licking the remnants of sauce from her now empty plate.

"You just ate a whole plate of seconds!"

"But I like it," Charla told him as she put down the plate, smiling brightly, "If not can I eat desert, Gwampa?"

"Charla, what do we say?" Freddie urged his daughter.

"I'm weally sorry I – not Daddy - assidenly thwowed the Qualfel thwoughed your window, Mr Lyons, it won't happen again."

"No, the other thing!" Freddie said quickly, flailing his arms which had Lulu whine unhappily at the disruption to being spoon fed, "The _magic_ word."

"Oh, _pleeeeease?"_

"That's the one."

"Well since you asked so nicely without prompting, I'll go see if there's some ice cream," George told her with a smirk as he stood to leave.

"Yay!" Charla cried happily, throwing her arms up in the air then turning back to her dad to engage him in conversation instead.

"Do you want ice cream, Vale?" Molly wondered of the toddler, getting him to eat anything was good for him at this point.

"No thank you," Vale shook his head politely, "I'm tired. Can I go to bed?"

"How about one last big spoonful and _then_ you can go to bed?" Harry countered and Vale nodded with only a little reluctance.

Harry picked up the spoon and heaped as much spaghetti onto it as possible before bringing it to the toddler's mouth, his eyes flickering with a hint of fear. He squeezed them shut instead as he ate the spoonful, his expression twisting momentarily with fear then relaxing as he realized it tasted okay and he allowed his eyes to open once more with a look of relief. It was how every bite of every food went with Vale, he thought it'd be a lot easier if just one bite of a meal did that but he wasn't sure how to stop Vale expecting every other bite to hurt him.

"See? It's still good," Molly assured the boy.

"You're right," Vale confirmed with a nod while noticeably suppressing a yawn that didn't go unnoticed by Molly, "Again."

"Well let's get you to bed before you fall asleep at the table."

"I'll take him," Harry offered instead when she made to stand up, scooping Vale up into his arms instead.

"Goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight Grandma Molly," Vale said in turn and there was a small chorus of goodnights from the others at the table.

Harry headed out with Vale, passing George returning with a bowl of ice cream for his granddaughter. It was pretty common for Vale to go to bed earliest, he was still recovering from Cel's attack and in fact had only been allowed to start eating solid food – within certain parameters – in the last couple of days because of the damage to his stomach.

He stopped in the bathroom so Vale could brush his teeth then brought him up to Ron's old room which was where they were staying, apart from the bizarre mix of soul-crushing guilt and bittersweet nostalgia it made him feel it was perfectly serviceable. He started to help Vale change into his pajamas, he was smart enough to not need much help but Harry was still cautious and it let him check the wound Cel had given him which was now a raw scar stretching across his stomach but definitely healing.

"So did you have a nice day, huh?" Harry tried to provoke conversation as he finished pulling the pajama top over Vale's head, to his surprise this had instead caused the toddler's shoulders to start to shake as tears shed from his eyes, "What's wrong?!"

"I- I'm sorry, Harry," Vale started to sob as Harry placed a comforting hand on his small shoulder though he was completely confused, "I- I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I- I know I- I should be happy, I- I know everythings better and D- Daddy is gone b- but I- I still feel sad. I feel sad all the time a- and I know I- I should be happy, I d- I don't know why," Vale confided in him, breaking down in tears and Harry pulled the fragile body into his arms, "I- I'm sorry I don't feel h- happy, I'm b- bad."

"It's okay," Harry assured him gently, holding him close and rubbing soothing circles on his back, "It's okay, Vale, you can feel however you want and we'll be here for you either way. It doesn't make you bad to feel sad, a lot of bad has happened and it takes time to heal."

"B- But m- my tummy i- is hea-"

"There are other types of wounds then just those you can see, in fact the ones you can't see usually take the longest to heal."

"O- Okay," Vale sniffed into his shoulder.

Harry continued to hold him, wondering whether he was even right about that and his eyes drifted to the pictures of his kids on the dresser. Depression wasn't something he'd had to deal with for his own children after all, nor his nieces of nephews for that matter so he wasn't sure what the best course of action was. Sadly, the person he'd go to for advice had lost their mind and was probably dead… he averted his eyes from the photograph of James guiltily.

Reverting his attention back to the now calmer half-asleep Vale, Harry laid him down on the bed and tucked him in. Feeling a pang of sadness as he did so, very much missing the simpler days when his own children had been this small and they weren't missing in a war. He planted a kiss on Vale's forehead to wish him goodnight, wondering if either of them would even live long enough in said war to worry about fixing his depression.

He sighed as his eyes went back to the photographs, he'd never have thought he'd actually be hoping his children were with Gray right now. He knew Vern's daughter at least was, Theodore Nott's children had had the common decency to return the underage boy to his father - _where underage kids belonged_ \- while informing him of the death of the eldest and the fact they – along with Lydia – would be with Gray. He thought it was a poor choice for a baby but at least he knew she'd survived the attack, that she as okay. His own children hadn't given him the luxury of that and he'd only heard vague conflicting things, he didn't know whether they were alive or dead or hurt, whether they'd been left in Hogwarts to be captured by the Shadows or were with Gray. Being on the same side didn't mean he liked Gray but it was an infinitely better option then capture, hoping for it didn't mean it was true though. Albus supported Gray but Lily had more sense – he was shocked she hadn't made Prefect, she was such a brilliant student – his sweet innocent little girl was far too young and fragile to willingly get mixed up in this war stuff, poor child was probably scared out of her mind right now.

He still would've thought Albus would let him know they were okay, that he'd want to know how his family was doing… If they were alive did they know about Ginny? Surely they would've gone home if they knew about Ginny. It made him for worry for Rose and Hugo too, did they know their mother was missing? He wanted them to know their dad had been innocent all along, he didn't know Ron's fate either but if… if he wasn't there anymore his children should at least have the memory of their dad restored, Ron deserved that much. Lucy was also randomly unaccounted for but Harry was least worried about her, Molly had no doubt dragged her sister into Gray with her. Then there was James… he was technically unaccounted for but that was a whole other story, he knew he was with the Shadows at least which was probably safer then wherever his other children were.

He lay down on the bed and suppressed another sigh as his eyes went back to the controversial picture of a younger James, grinning happily and waving at him. What, was he supposed to just suddenly hate the first child he and his wife and brought into the world because he'd done some bad? He couldn't do that, he couldn't accept there was no good left in James. He couldn't deny James obviously had a dark streak- a darker streak then most – but he was still his son, conceived and raised in so much love there just had to be good in him too. Whatever darkness he had the Shadows would be exacerbating it, they'd probably been teaching him torture with Flan and trying to indoctrinate him into the lunatic morals. He needed to get him away from that influence, back into the light. He'd have to pay for his crimes, of course, it would be a great injustice to Vern otherwise but he thought prison would be good for James and he could finally get that psychological help he wished he hadn't rejected Flan offering all those years ago then by the time he got out he'd be fixed. Hopefully…

"Harry!" George bellowed up to him abruptly, snapping him from his thoughts and making him blink his eyes back open. They probably wanted to know if he was going to eat those leftovers, he knew he should eat but he was far more tired than he was hungry, "Harry, you should get down here!"

Harry groaned and got up as he should at least tell them as much, though the urgency in his voice made him paranoid something was wrong like another attack already. Though it was a strange, Patronus tended to be how he was alerted to these things and it'd have no reason to go to George. He made sure the noise hadn't woken Vale quickly before heading downstairs, finding everyone was now clustered around something though they started to move aside when they saw him to reveal-

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as he laid eyes on his bushy haired friend, relief flooded him and he pulled her into a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought the Shadows had gotten to you…"

"They didn't, they didn't get _me_ anyway," Hermione answered as she pulled away and he wasn't sure if it was her emphasize that made him notice Molly was now crying, Bill had one around her and a confused looking Cres in the other. His relief suddenly turned into a rock in his stomach.

"What happened?"

"Rose… Rose died in Hogwarts," Hermione told him solemnly, averting her eyes and folding her arms. He was tempted to hug her again as a wave of sympathy and sorrow hit him, as well as fresh fear for his own children, "Lucy also is no longer with us, it's a long story."

"Do- Do you know-"

"Your children are alive, Molly and Hugo are also okay. And Ron."

"Ron?!" Harry spluttered out, shocked but relieved at the same time and looked around the familiar faces as if expecting them inexplicably to be there and he simply hadn't noticed.

"They're all with Gray right now," Hermione continued as if she could read his mind as she looked back to him.

" _What?"_ Harry questioned, feeling even more shocked and a little betrayed, "All of them- Are you?"

"Yes," Hermione said pointedly after a minute and from the sharp look on her face he was sure the betrayal showed on his face, "The Shadows forced Ron to lie about being the traitor to get the heat off Cel, he was then taken prisoner and held captive. A few months ago Gray freed him and he's been with them since, they don't really have a good way to prove his innocence but he tried talking to me anyway and I… I knew he was innocent so I've been with Gray since."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"Varanian doesn't trust you, Harry, and I couldn't guarantee you'd be convinced like I was about Ron. Can you look me in the eye and honestly guarantee you would've? I didn't want to risk losing him again," Hermione told him and Harry stayed silent, as much as he'd like to say 'yes' he was ashamed that he wasn't sure. Hermione stayed silent long enough to know his answer but didn't comment, "Hugo was hurt during the attack and after losing Rose… I've just been laying low with Gray while he recovers, I… I needed a break."

"What about my children?" Harry wondered, understanding why Hermione would stay away but not his children and Albus had his apparation license.

"Albus was hurt badly in the attack too and he was in no condition to be moved, Lily didn't want to leave him like that," Hermione continued before he could question her and Harry felt a chill go through him but for the first time her tone sounded more optimistic, "He's going to be okay though, don't worry. He's through the worst of it and he's awake more, it just takes time to recover."

"Can I see them?" Harry asked trying not to sound too test but he was upset at being denied access to his children, especially when one of them was badly hurt. He wanted to be there, he should've been allowed to be there.

"Maybe," Hermione answered cryptically.

"Can we see Ron?" Molly spoke up before he could say anything, reminding Harry they weren't alone.

"Yes, definitely soon," Hermione confirmed more optimistically and Molly managed a smile through her tears, "We just thought I should explain things first or he'd have come now, besides I have business to do too. Unfortunately this isn't just a social call."

"Business?" Harry wondered in surprise and Hermione nodded.

"We're making an alliance with Gray."

" _What?!"_

* * *

James Sirius Potter was sitting upright in his bed unhappily, holding a mirror up to his face to see the wound that werewolf had given him now the bandages had come off. Being inflicted by a werewolf it was a curse wound and unable to be healed magically and while it was too raw to accurately gage how it would heal, he knew it would definitely scar and he was very not happy about it. The livid red line went diagonally from his forehead across the corner of his eyebrow towards his ear, it was far larger then he'd thought and he definitely didn't want it ruining his good looks.

"What do you think, Yannis?" James asked of his slave, the Greek teen approaching with a tray carrying his dinner.

"It is lucky it missed your eye, Master James," Yannis offered after sparing a glance.

"Just because it could've been worse, it doesn't mean it's not still bad!" James yelled at him angrily, lashing out with his free arm to hit the tray and send the contents crashing onto the floor, the cutlery clattered and the bowl shattered completely upon impact, "Clean that up, Yannis, you clumsy idiot! You're pathetic!"

"Yes, Master James," Yannis agreed immediately and rushed to obey, making James notice red soup was spilling through the ruins of the bowl.

"And why were you bringing me soup, anyway?! I don't want more soup!"

"It is orders from the Healer, Master James, your stomach is not well enough for solids yet."

"And who do you take orders from, huh?! You're my property not theirs!" James snapped at him even though he knew he was being stupid, of course Yannis was – and should – take the Healers advice on this. The werewolf had injured his stomach too which he was still recovering from, it was why he was stuck in bed even, not that it made the forced dietary restrictions any less irritable especially when the Shadows already had forced dietary restrictions in the first place as meat wasn't allowed. But still, it was no excuse for Yannis' poor attitude, "When you're done cleaning up, bring me a knife. I think you need to be reminded who you belong to."

"Yes, Master James."

James leaned back as Yannis finished cleaning up, feeling more satisfied now he had something to look forward to. He put the mirror down – face down – on the bedside table, trying to put it out of his mind. Maybe it wouldn't heal as bad? Idly he began fiddling with the two rings on his fingers he'd acquired from his victims, he'd make that fucking werewolf pay when he had the chance, when he knew who they were because apparently they were too big to have been the small child Sebastian. How dare they leave him scarred and bedridden? It had been completely uncalled for, he'd just been doing his job and _they_ were the ones going against the Shadows wishes, in fact he'd been winning before the damn beast had come at him. Assuming they hadn't died already, he had hit them with a curse fatal without treatment before that and karma wasn't kind to traitors. He'd heard of his mum's death after all, served her right for betraying him.

"Which knife would you like, Master James?" Yannis' voice called from the other room.

"Your choice!" James yelled back, it was awfully generous of him to let a slave decide but he really just wanted to get on with it, "Just make it quick!"

Yannis obeyed and quickly returned with one of the knives, James snatched it from him as soon as he was close enough. He grabbed Yannis' wrist roughly and yanked him closer, shoving the sleeve back to get at the arm which was already sporting numerous scars from James experimenting with some stuff but he had the correct arm as there were no words. He jabbed the knife in roughly at a particularly untouched part of the wrist eliciting a cry of pain from his slave, he then began his work. Carving carefully into Yannis' soft flesh, feeling the blood running through the fingers of his hand still holding the wrist steady while Yannis made occasional sounds of pain. As much pain as a slave could feel anyway, it wasn't like Yannis was a real person but James was still glad he was suffering, he deserved it for what he'd done.

For James it was really quite relaxing and concentrating on the letters took his mind of his injuries, he lost himself in it completely and had no sense of time. He'd gotten a lot better at it, it was also possible with a wand but he enjoyed the up and close personal feel with a knife. He was smiling by the time he was finished and the bloody letters spelling out ' _Property of James Sirius Potter'_ were now embedded into Yannis' flesh, only then did he release the slave's arm.

"There you go," James told him brightly while Yannis clutched at his injured arm, crimson still cascading down, "Does that help you remember who owns you?"

"You've scarred these words five times already onto me, Master James," Yannis pointed out timidly, his voice a little hoarse, "I know I'm your property."

"I'm glad. Now get yourself cleaned up so you can me some dinner, try not to throw it on the floor this time or I'll have to punish you."

"Yes, Master James," Yannis muttered and started to move away, only to freeze at the sound of the door knocking.

"Well go and get the door!" James barked at him when Yannis looked at him in askance, the slave then immediately went to obey.

Yannis was so stupid, how had he ever managed before being enslaved? Truly Yannis was lucky the Shadows had come along, even luckier that he got to serve James instead of someone who wasn't important. His slave returned momentarily with Stephan Hunter who was his guest because… well, it was never anyone else. Stephan was alright but he couldn't hold a candle to his brother, Carver was better in every way. James missed him still, a lot.

"Hey James," Stephan greeted him, folding his arms and leaning against the door frame, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," James answered as the potions were keeping the pain away and he was told he was doing well, his good mood obliterated though as his eyes drifted to the face down mirror and his anger about the scar returned, "Except the scar… How um… How bad do you think it looks?"

"Seems fine, doesn't look infected and it's good it missed your eye."

"I'm not talking about infection! I mean how it _looks_ ," James complained irritably as Stephan seemed to be missing the point, "Whether it makes me look _ugly_."

"Why do you care if you look ugly?"

"Wha- Why _wouldn't_ I care?" James spluttered out at a loss, "Don't you care if you look ugly?"

"No," Stephan answered plainly, "Why would I? I'm a powerful wizard, that's what benefits the master not my looks."

"Well what if… what if there's a girl you like? Wouldn't you want her to think you're handsome?"

"What does it matter whether she thinks I'm handsome? When I order her to have a child with me she can obey or die, what she thinks I look like is hardly relevant," Stephan pointed out in confusion, looking at him like he'd started speaking a completely different language.

"Well… don't you want a real relationship with someone? To be in love? Eventually, I mean."

"Why would I want that? Producing children through the breeding program is far more beneficial to our society then limiting yourself to one person," Stephan told him and James sighed heavily, sometimes he forgot how much Stephan could be like one of the brain-dead Elites. As great as the Shadows were, sometimes he just missed normal people, "And if there _was_ anyone I'd want a relationship with, I'd rather she share my values then obsess of the superficial."

"Just forget it," James sighed heavily, not knowing why he expected Shadows or slaves to understand his plight. That werewolf would understand though, understand when James killed that bastard, "What did you want anyway?"

"To give you your next task actually."

"Am I in trouble?" James wondered, the prisoners had escaped after all.

"No, its unfortunate the prisoners escaped but we still learned some crucial information."

"The animagus?"

"Yes, it's no doubt a part of how they've been able to spy on us and now we know what to look out for its useless. Assuming Wyatt Grant even survived his injuries, some injured prisoners are hardly a threat to us especially considering your brutality," Stephan explained and James smiled to himself at the memories of torture, he was almost going to miss those prisoners, especially the Slytherin and Professor Koray, "When planning security next time just try account for more scenarios next time and prioritize passing on information over treatment for your injuries."

"So what's next? Do I get to torture some other prisoners?" James questioned hopefully, his spirits rising a little at the thought.

"No, you get to conquer. You're being promoted to General, congratulations," Stephen told him and James' eyes bulged in shock, "The Shadow Master may be pissed off at England right now but we can't afford to slow our assault on the world and we've stabilized Canada, our contact in Brazil is confident they'll surrender if we put more pressure on so the goal is to sweep down and put a dent into South America. We also need to clear out the Middle-East, give us more space to amass Inferi and make a clearer path into Asia because we'll need a lot of momentum ideally to take China. I'm going to clear out more of the Island countries with the Russian to get them used to massive numbers of Inferi, we'll get into Europe from there."

"Right… So what exactly will I be doing?"

"Pick whether you want South America or the Middle-East, I'll work out logistics with you while you recover and you'll launch the attack when you've recovered just like you've done with me except it'll be solo because I'll take the one you don't," Stephan said with a smirk, "You'll be a conquer now, James, a King among men. Your name will go down in history, surpassing even your father in infamy."

"Really?" James wondered hopefully, rather liking the sound of all that. That'd show his family they were fools to betray him, show his dad he was clearly worth more time then Harry had bothered to give him.

"Really, and you're worried about a measly scar? When they're cowered at your feet because of your might and the armies of the Soul Eaters behind, no one's going to care about something so trivial. Like I said, power is what truly matters."

"You're right, Stephan, of course you're right."


	15. IIX: Old Faces, Old News

_**Thanks to:** Colin Creevey, Vyxien and Cal for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _I'm assuming that Varanian and Alaric met about it then since it's announced?/Is it likely he takes part in those meetings?_**  
 _They haven't had the meeting yet, Harry should be a part of it which is why he's being told about it beforehand and will have discussed it more with Hermine and Alaric before it goes down_

 _ **He's the Head Auror and this acting Nobody Head of Law has the gal to ask him to look at Azkaban papers when he has far bigger, more important things to do? I suggest she gets off her lazy butt, and looks at them herself if they're so important. And he's Head Auror, why swamp him with paper work to begin with?** _  
_Its part of his job, as Head Auror he's responsible for the security of New Azkaban prison. Its a responsibility he mostly trusted to Cel which is really why he's so swamped in the first place, Cel was a second-in-command to Harry just as much (if not more so) then he was to Sal and he hasn't replaced him (in fact he's kind of afraid to delegate exactly because of Cel) so he's not sharing the workload (which is worse then ever with the current situation) like he did before which leads to him being swamped. As to why she doesn't go to the prison herself, she gladly would but she doesn't have the authority since its Harry's responsibility and he doesn't want her interfering with his people nor does he completely trust her so he won't give her authorization to deal with it_

 ** _And Who cares what's happening at a prison full of Shadows?_**  
 _The prison actually isn't full of Shadows just normal criminals, they've killed some but never successfully captured any Shadows. They're legally responsible for the prison and its prisoners, keeping them safe and keeping the general public safe from them_

 ** _People mad at Harry_**  
 _It also wasn't exactly a question but I wanted to clarify, people aren't mad at Harry just for trusting Cel and in fact many others did to. Its that Harry gave Cel full access in regards to Sal's imprisonment which is how he got to free her, people aren't mad so much he did that as that he did that AFTER Alaric ordered him not to (this is why they argue in the first chapter). They had conflicting views on security and trustworthiness, Harry was so confident he was right he went against his superior's orders which led to Sal's freedom. When you disobey orders and it goes well you look brilliant for having the foresight to go against the foolish authority, when you disobey orders and it goes badly... well you just look like an idiot_

* * *

Scorpius was not having a great day.

Michael had stormed off to go fall off the wagon, while he hoped his friend would come to his sense and return any second he knew it was unlikely and was proven correct. He was mad at him for it but it wasn't like he could stop him, it wasn't like he could force him to stay sober- well technically he supposed he could but he could hardly imprison him until he got over it and Michael clearly did not want help. Varanian had also gone off though Scorpius was concerned not mad at him, him he actually wanted to go after to make sure he was okay but he had no idea where he was to even do so. Abby had even checked for him, Varanian wasn't at Hogan's or the new base, he wasn't even at the old base which was the last place Scorpius could think to look for him. He'd just have to hope Varanian was okay and see how he was doing when he – hopefully – returned. Then there was Antonius who Hogan still wanted to take his leg off despite everyone else opposing it, Scorpius finally just straight up ordered him not to which Hogan complied with thankfully.

By the time Scorpius decided to call it a day because it was ridiculously late at night and most people had gone to bed, neither Michael nor Varanian had returned. Antonius was stable at least though he remained unconscious, complete with all legs attached though and Cassia – who had filled him in - of course had shelter with them so they were safe at least. Though seemingly once satisfied Antonius – and the other patients there – were stable, Hogan had angrily declared he was going home and left. He'd been very clearly pissed about Scorpius' decision, he hadn't so much as glanced at him _without_ a seething glare for the rest of that day and had frequently made comments complaining his way was better, criticizing them for not listening to him or insisting real Healers would be. Even when Lamb apparated them back to Hogan's, he was throwing a tantrum over it in the kitchen and ranting at Leebin. Scorpius was increasingly concerned that someone had dropped him on his head as an infant, Leebin seemed unfazed by this though.

On the bright side, it had been nice to walk in to see Molly sitting on the couch playing wizard's chess with Maurene rather than being bedridden. It was just too bad he couldn't spend time with her like Maurene could, if Michael and Varanian didn't show up tomorrow he'd have to deal with that, had to make sure they were alright. Tomorrow didn't start off well though.

"Hey Hogan," Scorpius had greeted the Healer politely, hoping he'd slept off his anger though the dark look he was thrown suggested otherwise, "So I was thinking when you go to the Embrys-"

"I'm going now," Hogan interrupted icily, already on his way towards the front door Scorpius realized.

"Well… that's fine, I just want you to me with you."

"No!" Hogan barked stubbornly as if he was a petulant child, Scorpius could only ogle him incredulously as he stalked past him.

"You… You get _not_ taking me accomplishes nothing right? Someone else will just apparate me," Scorpius pointed out but Hogan didn't stop walking, opening the front door readily much to his frustration, "Lysel is more mature then you and he's a three year old!"

"I know it!" Hogan called back, slamming the door behind him and Scorpius let out a sigh of irritation.

"Have you gone to see your family yet?" Myriam inquired of him as she came down the stairs, carrying an empty glass that probably had been Lysel's- he was still ill from the full moon.

"Not yet, I'm kind of busy right now," Scorpius answered, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice, "And Hogan isn't helping."

"Ah," she offered and despite the short answer, he surmised from her tone she very much could relate, "Well whenever you are ready I'd be happy to take you since you can't apparate and all."

"Thanks."

The dainty woman cast him a smile before continuing on in the direction of the kitchen, he wondered what had brought that on. At any rate, he had other things to do right now. Namely finding Lamb because Hogan was a jerk.

* * *

"Michael, get up!"

Michael Sanford jolted awake instantly at the urgency in the voice in fear of attack, instantly regretting it as consciousness felt like a knife to the brain. He groaned, pressing his face further into his pillow as the acrid taste of emptiness rolled around on the insides of his arid mouth, nausea clawing through his stomach beneath him.

"I'm serious, Michael!" the same voice hissed angrily, a female voice that he didn't recog- Had he slept with someone last night? Torn by curiosity, he dragged his throbbing head up an inch and opened his eyes a crack, vision immediately obscured as his underwear was thrown into his face, "Get up!"

"Where's the fire?" Michael mumbled out in a sleepy slur as he took the boxers, sitting up a little and feeling cool air on his bare chest. He had slept with someone, hadn't he?

"My husband is coming home early, you need to get out of here!"

With this she threw his jeans at him, he wasn't sure if it was actually being slapped in the face by washed out denim or the words she said that but he found himself feeling suddenly more awake now. He dragged himself out of the covers and started pulling on his boxers then his jeans, memories starting to drizzle into the slog that was his alcohol soaked mind. He glanced up at the woman who was frantically get dressed, some strawberry blond who looked older then Dawn but – thankfully – younger than Grissy. She was pretty enough, vaguely recalling meeting her at the bar and… coming home with her.

He groaned as a wave of nausea and shame slammed into him, letting his head fall into his hands before spotting his boots and socks that the woman had probably got ready for him, he started to put them and tried to swallow his bile. What even was this woman's name? What was wrong with him? She apparently had a husband.

"I didn't know you had a husband," Michael stated, sure that even drunk he wouldn't stoop to being complicit in an affair. Least he hoped he wouldn't…

"Well I won't anymore if he finds you here, he said he'd leave me if he caught me cheating on him again," she explained as he was tying his laces and he just had to stop to ogle her incredulously.

"Then why did you do it?!"

"It's the apocalypse and I don't want to die alone, if he doesn't want me to go out and bring home strange guys then he shouldn't work nights all the time. A girl's got needs," she insisted defensively and Michael shook his head – regretting it instantly, it made the world swim dizzyingly – before going back to tying the laces, "Don't judge me, I'm sure your Rose wouldn't be too happy if she was here."

"Rose… Rose wasn't my wife," Michael stammered, having to swallow the bile trying to rise as memories of her screams as she torn apart echoed inside his skull.

"Well she sure didn't strike me as your sister," she scoffed as he finished tying the laces and instead let his still throbbing head fall back into shaky hands, his stomach swirling sickeningly inside him, "Hey, don't stop, you still need to get out of here!"

Michael grunted in acknowledgement, not really trusting himself to speak least he spew instead. He stood up unsteadily, the world spinning around him so forcefully he feared he would pass out. The woman – whose name he still didn't remember – came over to him though and handed him his shirt, it was the jingle of his dog togs that drew his attention away from the vertigo. He realized she was ogling his bare chest, she then placed her soft hands over his rune scar and he noticed her nails had been painted the most vibrant shade of pink. More pleasant memories of last night started trickling through into his mind, her name was Susie or Sammy or something like that.

"Not that it wasn't fun but I forgot it's our anniversary apparently so my husband is coming home early, he's a soldier like you so you _probably_ don't want to stick around to meet him," Susie or Sammy told him before leaning up to kiss him, leaving him very confused as she pressed her Tequila tasting lips against his own.

"Sophie!" a man's voice called from downstairs, the sound of a door slamming closed punctuating how sharply Michael and – apparently Sophie – jolted away from each other, "Baby, I'm back!"

"Get out of here!" Sophie hissed at him desperately and gestured to a door on the other side of the bed while Michael started hastily pulling his shirt over his head in a panic, footsteps stamping ever closer every second.

"Happy anni-"

Michael disapparated frantically as the door swung open, knowing how badly he needed to get home. He didn't know if it was his brain addled hangover or how quickly and unfocused he'd departed but it was the worst apparation he'd ever experienced, he felt like the tube he was being shoved through was a drinking straw so violently he was reminded of the lycanthropy transformations. He collapsed onto the pavement, limbs shaking like leaves and his head feeling like another several knives had been plunged in. His stomach lurched, expelling its contents into the gutter. His arms gave out and his head hit the concrete, leaving him lying in a pool of his own foul-smelling vomit. He groaned but he felt too ill to move, to even open his eyes…

 _"Rose run, I can hold this long enough for you to get through," Michael told Albus' cousin, "If one of us doesn't keep this up we'll be overwhelmed and killed by Inferi before we can get away, one of us has to fight for the other."_

"Michael?" a vaguely recognizable voice questioned but he couldn't wake up enough to stir even as he felt his shoulder's shaken, "Um… Are you okay? You shouldn't be lying in the street…"

 _"You go then," Rose countered._

 _"No, I want to make sure you live!"_

Michael felt someone trying to pull him to his feet, he still couldn't wake up but he tried to stand. Letting them support him, letting himself be led until he was laid back down on a kinder surface.

 _"You need to live more, Michael, you're going to be a dad!"_

 _Without waiting on a response from Michael, Rose pushed him forcefully back through the entrance. Michael cried out in protest but it was too late, one wasn't enough to keep the Inferi back despite Albus' best efforts with the Knockback Jinx._

 _An Inferius' hand tore through the side of Rose's neck before he could stop it, she screamed in pain and…_

Michael forced himself to wake up, howling in anguish and trying to stop his brain replaying her horrific death again. He buried his head in his trembling fingers, squeezing shut his eyes as if that actually helped do anything besides slightly stem the flow of tears. No matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to be haunted by ghosts these days. If it wasn't Rose, it was Annie and if it wasn't Annie, it was Flynn. Rose was the only one he'd actually seen die though.

He sat there breathing heavily for a minute, letting the memory fade from his mind and trying to focus on other things to distract himself. He still felt nauseous but its wave had receded, likewise his head still ached but it had dulled considerably. He wondered how long he'd been out, probably longer then it felt like if the pain had dulled that much. His throat was still parched though.

"Anyway, then we just leave it to dry," a vaguely familiar voice said and Michael's head shot up in surprise.

He just assumed he'd apparated to outside the Embry's and been brought inside by someone but he realized now that wasn't the case at all, he must've brought himself back to John's town which was the last place that had really been a home because he was now back in Dawn's grubby apartment, complete with cockroaches crawling up the walls. He cringed in disgust, wondering how anyone could live like that. The rest of the apartment seemed unchanged, everything looking like she'd dragged it out of a landfill site.

Then there was Dawn, his eyes honing on her swollen stomach like being sucked into a black hole. Her bump had certainly gotten bigger since last time he'd seen her, of course it would be as she'd either just entered her third trimester or would any day now, he was too hungover to think of dates. Three months until baby time.

He dragged his eyes off it to glance at her, aside from her stomach she didn't look much different. Her dark dyed hair was clipped out of the way, she had a model car kit box on the table beside a model car and some paints she was screwing the lid back on. It was probably what she'd been talking about, though he didn't think it had been aimed at him as she wasn't even facing his direction.

"What are you doing?" Michael tried to demand of her but his voice came out more as a weak rasp, he was really dehydrated.

"Building a model car," Dawn offered, sparing him a glance before continuing what she'd been doing.

"Why?"

"It's called a 'hobby,' dunno if you wizards have those," Dawn answered snarkily before seeming to take a more serious route, "My Dad used to do them with me all the time as a kid, it's something I intend to share with my son. I hope Easton will like it."

"The fetus can't hear you," Michael pointed out through gritted teeth, feeling his anger rise again at the name. It was a stupid name, especially for a fetus of unknown gender.

"Actually he can, his hearing is that far along- Sometimes I can even feel him moving when I talk to him," Dawn told him, sounding increasingly excited and smiling to herself as her hand seemed to instinctively go to her stomach, "Its… It's really cool, like he's responding."

"Well the fetus can't understand it so it's pointless talking to it."

"Just because he can't understand it doesn't mean it's pointless," Dawn complained, losing her smile and going back to cleaning up, "You're so negative."

"Then why did you bring me here?!"

"I don't know, it seemed wrong to leave you half in the road drowning in your vomit?" Dawn told him incredulously, "Would you I just leave you there to choke on it next time?"

"Yes!" Michael yelled stupidly, "I don't want anything to do with you!"

"I'm not asking you to have anything to do with me, there's the door!" Dawn shot back, jabbing her finger towards the front door while getting up and storming off towards the other door.

"Where are you doing?!"

"I need to pee!" Dawn snapped, slamming the door behind her.

Michael buried his head back in his hands, his head ringing from noise. Why had he done that? That was stupid, and rude. What was the matter with him lately? He was so irritable and quick to anger lately, he knew he _shouldn't_ be – even when the people actually deserved his anger - but such rational thought rarely crossed his mind at the time.

Heck- What was the matter with him _now_?! He'd spent the night with some random woman- a _married_ random woman no less and now he was back in the home of another one night stand who he'd knocked up, he couldn't handle alcohol which was why he needed to stop. And now he wasn't at the Embry's, what if there'd been attack? What if Antonius was dead because Hogan had decided to hack off his leg? He was letting everyone down. He didn't want to be like this, why was he like this? _Lamb_ had even refused to come with him, the homeless career alcoholic was somehow managing to be more responsible than he was!

He was dreading going back and having to face that, face all of them. He was dreading going back in general, he didn't want to be there. The weight of the world was a brutal amount to bear, he felt like he was crumbling under the pressure. He didn't want to not be there either though, he wanted to help and they _needed_ healers. This was why alcohol was nice, it was the only escape the situation, the only way he could be nowhere.

"Oh, you're still here," Dawn spoke again and Michael glanced back up, seeing her ambling out of the bathroom.

"I um… I wanted to apologize for snapping at you," Michael offered ashamedly, trying to stop his eyes drifting to the bump, "I'm sorry. It was kind of you to help me."

"No problem," Dawn brushed it off while Michael jumped as a cockroach scuttled over his foot, "Don't suppose you have a magic exterminating spell? Pop those suckers and we can call it even."

"I don't," Michael admitted truthfully, cockroach killing had not been in the Hogwarts curriculum, "Why don't you just hire an exterminator?"

"You think I can afford that?" Dawn scoffed with a shake of her head, "Besides, the whole place is infected not just my apartment so getting rid of them isn't as simple as clearing them from my room. The Landlord's supposed to take care of it and he's a piece of shit, he's taken off to one of those Ministry shelters so he's not even pretending to ignore us right now. On the bright side I stopped paying my rent because what the fuck's he going to do? But I'm about to go on maternity leave so I won't have much coming in anyway."

"Ministry shelters?" Michael wondered as Dawn went back to cleaning up, he recalled vaguely hearing about them on the radio or the Embry's television.

"Yeah, you know those places all over the country the government are setting up as shelters for survivors of the Shadow attacks or those who are preemptively want to evacuate, they're already magically protected and stuff. How can you not have heard of it? I mean I know they're running it for wizards too-"

"I've just been busy, some shelter isn't something we're interested in anyway. Since you're not in one, I'm guessing you can understand that."

"I've thought about it," Dawn shrugged, "I mean I'm a sitting duck without magic, you can just peace the fuck out if something happens or fight but I'm fucked so magical protection seems amazing. Except there's only like a gazillion more non-mag- muggles then wizards, protection won't mean shit if its spread too thin and there'll be a drain on supplies and resources. I have a good hoard of supplies here I'd have to ditch to go to a shelter so unless they attack this place- which is a small town, way smaller than anywhere else hit - I'm probably better off. If things get as bad as they get in other countries I don't think it'll really matter, small towns and magically protected shelters will all fall then. Might as well die at home free then cowering in some shelter with everyone else in the world."

 _Invite her to come back with you_ , his mind spoke up abruptly as his eyes drifted back to her swollen stomach, the stomach carrying his child, _they'll be safer with us in Gray_. Michael conceded this was probably true, his mouth opening and closing a little as the offer of helping her danced on his tongue. But then he heard a different voice in his head, this time it was Rose. _You need to live more, Michael, you're going to be a dad!_ And he felt a resurgence of rage, the fetus- that _thing_ was the reason she was dead instead of him and that was on Dawn.

"I have to go now," Michael said as he stood, seeming to startle Dawn from her thoughts a little.

"Good luck," Dawn offered politely as she caught his eye, she did have pretty eyes.

Michael just turned on his heal, disapparating without a word.

* * *

" _Thank you_ ," Scorpius offered gratefully to Lamb after he apparated them, now thankfully finding himself outside of the Embrys.

"I- It's basically what I'm h- here for," Lamb shrugged with a suppressed yawn, he still looked tired from the full moon, "C- Can't do much but I c- can app- apparate."

"Its more than I can do," Scorpius admitted ashamedly at his inability to apparate, death was apparently easier for him to overcome then common magic everyone of age could manage. They started approaching the front door and he recalled yesterday Lamb refusing to go drinking with Michael, "And you should be proud of yourself, Ephraim. I don't think I mentioned it with everything going on but that was great of you to stay sober, I'm sure it wasn't easy."

"Th- Thanks," Lamb offered and actually gave a sheepish smile while Scorpius knocked on the door, "I- I was tempted esp- especially so cl- close after the full moon but I- I knew I h- had to stay strong s- so I did, it felt g- good to be able to s- say no."

"Well you did the right thing," Scorpius assured him as the door was opened not by Richard but a gangly teen with a large mop of bushy red hair and freckles, Rose's younger brother, "H- Hey Hugo."

"Hi Scorpius, come in," Hugo greeted him kindly, even smiling politely as he stepped by to let him enter. He had thought the Hufflepuff would be one of those mad at him because of Rose's death, apparently not so that was a plus, "Lamb, is it?"

"How are you doing?" Scorpius asked of him as they went inside, recalling he'd been injured.

"My leg's healed enough that I'm allowed to walk around now, long as I don't overexert it," Hugo explained, the satisfaction in his voice reminding him of Molly who was in a similar position, "Got through the full moon too I'm doing better than I have been all month."

"I- It's always a r- relief when the full moon is over and y- you don't have to worry ab- about it for a while," Lamb agreed.

"That's good," Scorpius offered, his attention drifting to the dining turning hospital room where he noticed a distinct lack of Michael, "Don't suppose Michael or Varanian have showed up?"

"No," Hugo answered immediately and looked apologetic, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Scorpius brushed it aside, trying not to worry. It was still early after all, if Michael was hungover he probably wouldn't be up at the crack of dawn.

He moseyed on over to the hospital section though, keen on checking on Antonius. He was still in the same bed as yesterday, they'd erected a new one for Wyatt by the wall and from the way the blankets were bundled in the corner it seemed he was still asleep though most of the patients were. Antonius was no exception, Cassia was very much awake though and sitting cross-legged on her brother's bed since his small stature left plenty of space. He thought this might have been to stop Antonius' incredibly large dog lying on his injured leg, the mutt had retreated to Sebastian's bed and though he stroked her – least Scorpius thought it was a girl dog - she had her eyes on her master. She wasn't the only one by Antonius though, Tabitha Morse – Maurice and Orous' stepdad's Healer girlfriend he'd just allowed to join - was looking over Antonius with a worrying scowl.

"Is something wrong?" Scorpius wondered anxiously as he strode over.

"Huh? No, he's stable and the potion is working on the infection," Tabitha answered distractedly.

"Then what's with the scowl?"

"I'm just confused, I don't know why you would bother salvaging the leg instead of amputating it."

"Not you too!" Scorpius groaned and caught Hogan throwing him the most triumphant, satisfied smirk.

"It's a better quality of life- especially for a child – to grow up with full use of their leg with a prosthetic instead of being crippled like a poor old man."

"That's _exactly_ what I said," Hogan pointed out defensively, "But I was overruled by everyone else. And we don't have prosthetics right now."

"Having a leg is better," Cassia insisted determinedly and Scorpius backed her up with a nod of acknowledgement.

"Just don't try to blame me when he's crying his eyes out about it."

"Will he be okay though?" Sebastian asked worriedly and timidly, "He hasn't woken up."

"He should be asleep for a few days barring any complications, its nothing to worry about," Tabitha assured him kindly, "The body heals better when asleep and his infection will clear faster this way, give him a couple of days."

"Okay."

"Oh, hey Scorpius," another voice spoke, causing him to tear his eyes away from his friend to see it was Hermione approaching him, "The meeting is set for tomorrow afternoon."

"Um… Okay," Scorpius offered, not entirely sure why she was telling him that and she even nodded in acknowledgement.

"Alright, I'm going to speak to Mrs Koray then and bring her so she can see her family," Hermione told him and he opened his mouth to object when she elaborated, "I already cleared it with Varanian when we talked yesterday, in fact he'd already met her because she helped with the Canadian evacuation. She's trustworthy."

"Well if Varanian okay'd it, go for it."

"I'll be back then."

On that note Hermione walked away, giving Hugo – who he realized had been talking to Lamb by the door – a hug before leaving. Scorpius decided to just wait around in the hopes of Michael or Varanian returning, spending some time sitting with his injured friends and uninjured ones because Cassia was there and Abby like yesterday hovered almost perpetually around Albus' side. Even Lily – Albus' _sister_ \- just popped in and out, actually leaving later on when she went with Tabitha so she could spend some time with Orous and that was after waking much later then everyone else.

"Scor?" a very welcome voice spoke up weakly, interjecting into their conversation and he saw Albus' emerald eyes were fluttering open. Even better, Albus gave him a wide toothy smile when he saw him and Abby brightened up immediately, "Scor! It's so good to see you!"

"I'm glad you're awake," Scorpius grinned in return, Albus had only been awake a little yesterday and Scorpius hadn't really been around at the time, "How are you feeling?"

"Good- I mean, I've been better but I don't feel that bad, just sleepy. And I miss eating food that isn't mush but it could be worse."

"Yeah," Scorpius offered and recalled Vern's message he still had to pass along, distracted slightly as he heard the door, "You're getting better though, I'm sure you'll be back to real food in no time."

"I hope so," Albus agreed before his eyes widened slightly at something behind Scorpius, "Woah, Michael, you look terrible."

Scorpius turned quickly to see Michael had indeed returned and did indeed look terrible, his eyes were red and he looked worn out. His hair was a mess – more than usual – and his stubble was overgrown, his clothes looked disheveled too and his shirt had vomit-stains. He approached unsteadily when Albus spoke to him, the closer he got the stronger the smell of alcohol was.

"Yeah… I'm a little hungover," Michael admitted in a croak, scratching at his beard.

"Where did you sleep?" Abby asked, sounding very much like she was trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice.

"Um…" Michael offered, his cheeks burning, "I um… went home with err… a woman, Sophie. I didn't get a last name but erm… well it was probably her husband's anyway-"

" _What?!_ " Abby and Scorpius exclaimed in unison, Albus just groaned.

"I didn't know she had a husband!" Michael insisted, his face flushing further and he folded his arms, "She rushed me out of there when he showed up, I erm… kind of accidentally went to Dawn's and she let me sleep the rest of it off there. Then I apparated back here, and now I'm here."

"Are you pleased with yourself?" Scorpius demanded of him disapprovingly but Albus had latched onto another part of what he said.

"How was Dawn?" Albus inquired, sounding genuinely concerned, "She doing okay with the pregnancy and all?"

"She's fine," Michael answered shortly, his expression souring.

"Must be in her third trimester, right?" Albus continued, either not noticing or not caring about the change in Michael's expression. On the contrary, Albus smiled while Maximus Nott walked by carrying some potions, "She can probably feel Easton kicking now, it's pretty exciting how your son is developing, huh? Not long now until you could meet him."

"Wait, what? You have a son with the hag?" Maximus exclaimed in surprise, stopping to look at Michael, "I wasn't even sure hags could get preg-"

"Not the hag!" Michael insisted and his face went scarlet again, Scorpius recalled the whole hag incident had been talked about in Hogwarts for a while which was probably all Maximus knew as he wasn't close to them or anything to hear about Dawn, "I got a _different_ woman pregnant _before_ I met the hag."

"Oh," Maximus muttered and went to go on with his task.

"And she's not 'the hag' you know," Michael continued, holding out his arm to stop Maximus, "Her name is Grissy, I actually knew what it was."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lech," Maximus stated disinterestedly and Michael scowled at him as the Slytherin carried on, bringing the potions over to where Hogan was still working on Marigold.

"You should invite her to join Gray!" Albus spoke up, drawing the attention back to him and Michael glanced back in utter confusion.

"Grissy…?"

"No, Dawn!" Albus corrected, looking enthusiastic while Michael's look soured again, "With all the attacks she'd be safer here. Even if you don't want anything to do with Easton, you at least care about being him being born safely, right?"

"I said she's fine!" Michael insisted irritably, "Small towns don't get attacked, she's not even worried and she knows about the Ministry shelters if she gets desperate. She's got a brain."

"If you're sure…" Albus muttered, looking disheartened while Michael went over to Antonius which inexplicably bothered him. If he cared that much about Antonius he shouldn't have ditched the kid when he needed him, full credit that Hogan had actually saved him even if he was pissed off about not getting his way. His way, which Michael would have absolutely no way of knowing wouldn't have happened if he wasn't there.

"Do you want some Pumpkin Juice?" Abby offered to Albus as if trying to suggest something to restore his spirits, he gave her an interested glance, "Hogan said it was okay as long as it was only the occasional glass."

"Okay, Pumpkin Juice beats water," Albus agreed, giving her a half-hearted smile and she beamed in response before going over. Albus' smile faded and he spoke quieter, "She's always by my side lately, you know?"

"Yeah, she's pretty worried about you," Scorpius confirmed and Albus looked concerned by this.

"I wish she wouldn't be, I don't want her to be holding her back. She shouldn't be stuck here because of me, I mean she has her fiancé and can speak to her sister again… I'm sure she'd be happier hanging out with them instead of me all of the time."

"Heather visits and it's not like you're forcing her to be here, if she wanted to be with them she would be."

"I guess," Albus shrugged then yawned, reminding Scorpius he slept a lot so if he wanted to tell him Vern's message he should do it sooner rather than later.

"There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," Scorpius spoke up, deciding to just go for it and Albus raised an interested eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, when I was rescuing Molly-"

"How is Molly?" Albus interrupted, suddenly looking anxious for his cousin.

"She's good," Scorpius answered quickly and realized this wasn't entirely accurate, "Well of course she's been through a lot but she's getting better, she's up and about again now so she's happy about that."

"That's good," Albus smiled again.

"It is. So anyway, when I was rescuing her I had a near-death experience-"

" _What?!"_ Albus and – annoyingly – Michael exclaimed in unison, Scorpius scowled and waved his hand dismissively as he did _not_ want to get into it.

"It's nothing, Martha brought me right back," Scorpius brushed it off as quickly as possible, "The important thing is that I saw Vern."

"You saw Vern?" Albus wondered in awe, ogling him with his mouth hanging open a little as Scorpius nodded.

"I did and he wanted me to… he wanted me to thank you for him."

"Thank me?"

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed, feeling more melancholy as he recalled their dead friends words and trying to quote him as directly as possible, "He said he's really grateful for everything you've done taking care of his… his girls since he can't, he really appreciates it."

"He does?" Albus said, his eyes starting to water now, "He cared about Lydia."

"He did. He said he wished he could've met her, that he could be here."

"You see, Michael!?" Albus shot suddenly at Michael who was silent, sounding choked up now, "I told you, I told you that Vern would care about Lydia! I knew he would!"

"Calm down, Al," Abby urged him as she returned with the pumpkin juice, placing it on the bedside table and placing a hand on his shoulder, "Don't get yourself worked up."

"Vern cared about Lydia, Abby, he cared," Albus told her immediately, smiling through the liquid sliding down his face, "And he's grateful, for everything I've done for her and Olivia. Scorpius had a near-death experience and talked to him."

"He _what_?!"

"It was nothing," Scorpius brushed it aside and was thankfully saved from further discussion on the topic by the door.

Unfortunately it wasn't Varanian. At that moment Hermione walked in, talking to the large woman he'd seen once before and knew to be Professor Koray's wife. There was a boy with them too, maybe nine or ten – too young for Hogwarts – with a sheet of dark hair like his presumably mother, Scorpius knew Professor Koray had three children.

"Mum!" Auriga burst out immediately from the other end of the room and ran, she raced across the room and threw herself into her mother's welcoming arms.

"My poor baby," Mrs Koray cooed as Auriga burst into tears, squeezing her daughter tightly as the crying girl clung to her. Pollux wasn't able to run due to his damaged lung capacity but he started making his way down the room seemingly as fast as he could go, when he got close enough he too was engulfed into the hug by his mother who kissed the tops of both of their heads lovingly. Not to be left out, the youngest - who Scorpius didn't know the name of - hugged at his siblings, smiling at their reunion, "My poor precious babies, I'm so proud of you. You were so brave and so strong, I love you so much. I love you both _so_ much."

"Aww, I'm so happy they get to be reunited," Albus said and Scorpius glanced back to his friend, who was wiping at his eyes, "I can't wait until I get to see Mum again."

Scorpius tensed at this, recalling Albus hadn't yet been told about Ginny Potter. Very unfortunately, both Abby and Michael also tensed at this comment for likely the same reason. While they kept their faces blank, the fact all three of them very visibly tensed was picked up on.

"What?" Albus asked of them, starting to look worried as his head swiveled between the three of them.

Silence. Scorpius debating mentally whether it was time to come clean as the alterative would be outright lying to him, the other two presumably doing the same and the longer they stayed quiet the worst it would be. Cassia also looked between them, she alone hadn't tensed though she had been told and apparently had more guts them all of three of them.

"Albus," Cassia spoke up, turning towards him and meeting his confused eye without hesitation, "Your Mum died."


	16. IIX: Discord

_**Thanks so much to:** Colin Creevey, ChakraKitty, Cal, Judal Hiwatari and RandomGerman for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Does Lily know Ginny is dead?_**  
 _Yes_

 ** _Where is Jackone?_**  
 _Around, they're allied with Gray still but don't stay with them and since they just helped with the Canada evacuation they're basically on break. Varanian's had communication with them while he's been gone off-page, they will be back at some point  
_

 ** _Will he (Michael) be kicked out of Gray or placed under an unbreakable vow limiting his ability to talk about Gray-related-stuff to outsiders due to him being a serious risk of information leaking?_**  
 _No or not right now anyway, he'd have to do worse and be more of a risk for them to consider or take more drastic action like that_

 ** _Will he (Harry) be placed under an unbreakable vow to follow Alarics/Hermiones/Scorpius/Varanians orders or be completely replaced as Head Auror?_**  
 _No, Alaric doesn't have anyone better to replace Harry with (or he would've) and they wouldn't use unbreakable vows mostly because its illegal and/or Harry wouldn't agree to it_

* * *

Albus did not take news of his mother's death very well. In fact he ended up being so distraught that Hogan administered a Sleeping Draught, chastising them that he needed rest not stress. It wasn't like Scorpius could really fault Cassia for telling him though, Abby did though.

"He has a right to know his Mum died! Besides, do you really think we should be keeping things from each other?" Cassia argued defensively before sparing a glance at Scorpius, "Isn't that kind of how Hogwarts fell?"

That put an end to the debate though no one was happy with it, especially not Abby who was so frantic over Albus that Scorpius really couldn't fault Heather for having thought Albus was her fiancé. When she wasn't sitting by his side gazing at him anxiously, she was fluffing his pillows constantly or refilling his water with excessive frequency so it would be fresh for him if he woke up thirsty. Scorpius stayed for a while, not having to worry about Michael as Hogan kicked him out of the hospital room and for a wonder Michael simply abided by it. Scorpius suspected he was either too hungover or too drunk to feel like being of much use there anyway, probably wanted the rest.

Scorpius headed back to Hogan's sooner than the previous day though, feeling like he'd spent enough time there for the day and Albus nor Antonius would wake soon. Besides, seeing Abby doting over Albus and Mrs Koray with her husband made him miss Molly and feel like he should be doing more for her right now. Varanian still hadn't shown up but Scorpius didn't think it had been long enough to panic yet, he was probably more likely to return to Hogan's first anyway. Now Lamb was feeling up to it visiting Brutus was finally an option but he felt like it was too late before he thought about it, tomorrow though he'd get to it first thing.

He'd been starting to get used to seeing Molly out of bed but she managed to surprise him yet again when he returned this time, she wasn't just up she was outside. Leebin was practicing his swordsmanship skills, Maurene cheering him on which was normal – though Scorpius was still not sure how he'd ended up with the sword of Gryffindor or how useful it'd be. What was different was that Molly was actually helping him, conjuring targets for him to hit that even moved. It was the first time he'd seen her outside or using magic since he'd saved her.

"Hey," Scorpius called over to them in greeting as he approached, casting his girlfriend a smile, "How's it going?"

"Just the usual," Molly shrugged it off, apparently not thinking – or at least not acting – like this was a big deal, "How are things?"

"Um… they've been better," Scorpius answered awkwardly, his eyes drifting to Maurene who was very much in earshot so he didn't want to say too much around the young child, "But they've also been worse. Have you seen Varanian by the way?"

"No."

"Why don't we take a break?" Leebin decided a little breathlessly from the exercise, either catching on or thinking he was distracting Molly too much from her task.

"Okay, maybe Mummy finished making the lemonade," Maurene agreed enthusiastically before heading back inside, offering a greeting to Lamb who was also going inside.

"Save me a glass, Flan," Molly added to Leebin as he made to follow his daughter inside, acknowledging her request with a nod and sheathing the sword.

"Why do you call him Flan?" Scorpius wondered curiously, she threw him an odd look.

"Um… people usually call each other by their names? You know it's his name, right?"

"Of course I know it's his name, I just assumed you called him Leebin too," Scorpius offered as the stared meandering towards the house, realizing it was a pretty stupid line of discussion, "I mean it's what I call him."

"Well he's my friend not my therapist like he was to you," Molly pointed out before touching his arm and nodding at the woodland surrounding Hogan's house, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Are you allowed?" Scorpius wondered in concern for her health, causing her to scowl a little. He knew she liked the outdoors and thought it would be good for her, long as she was recovered enough to. He didn't want to screw up her recovery.

"Hogan says it's fine as long as I feel up to it, just not to push myself too hard or go too far. Going alone is also not recommended- for anyone, not just me."

"Okay then, a walk sounds nice," Scorpius agreed with more enthusiasm, casting her a smile as they changed direction towards the trees, "It's a lovely day."

"Yeah, who ever heard of a sunny apocalypse," Molly muttered, leaving him unsure whether she was joking. Not that he liked that description anyway, they weren't done yet and they could – and _would_ , they _had_ to – turn this around.

They wandered into the tree line, walking side by side with Molly inspecting the wrinkled oak idly though she looked happier. Instinctively, he reached out and took her hand which had him briefly taken aback. She'd lost fingers as part of her torture which he was well aware of and could clearly see but it was the first time he'd held her hand since then, feeling the absence of her finger and the stump of another curling around his hand where it had once been whole was just a little… different.

"Feels weird, huh?" Molly commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Scorpius lied quickly, not wanting her to feel self-conscious or think he had a problem with it.

"Come on, Scor, I'm not stupid. They're my own hands, I know it feels weird because it feels weird to me."

"It doesn't bother me."

"I didn't say it did, I said it feels _weird_ ," Molly pointed out insistently what was the truth.

"Okay, it feels a little weird," Scorpius begrudgingly admitted, "But it's not a big deal, I can get used to it."

"I'm sure you can, I felt the same when your hand got burned."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because I just want you to be honest with me."

"I am!" Scorpius insisted and she gave him an odd look but it was true, least he thought so. There were some things he wasn't _telling_ her but that wasn't the same as _lying_ to her and it wasn't like he didn't have a good reason for omitting certain things, he got the feeling she was keeping things from him too.

"Okay," Molly said, not sounding very much like she believed him as she turned away and it didn't feel right to protest. She fell silent for a while and Scorpius wasn't sure whether to break the silence or not, it was peaceful just taking in the forest together and it felt good to hold her hand again. When she did speak again, it was about something completely different, "You know on days like this when I was a kid, I'd always beg my mother to let me go flying but she'd say no, every single time."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I used to think it was so unfair, after all my cousins were allowed to," Molly continued as if he hadn't spoken, "When I'd ask why, she'd say because it wasn't fair on Lucy since she was too young to fly. She said I had to be a good sister, that it was my job as the elder sibling to do right by her. I thought it was such a stupid excuse at the time, I didn't see why I couldn't just teach Lucy to fly then she wouldn't be left out."

"There was no way you could've known she was a Squib," Scorpius pointed out and she finally acknowledged him with a glance.

"Does it really matter? She just wanted me to be a better sister, be more considerate of Lucy's feelings but I wasn't."

"You were just a kid."

"I know," Molly sighed and looked away again, removing her hand from his as she did so and instead folding her arms, "I never thought I'd think this but I'm actually _glad_ my parents aren't here to see what we became when we grew up."

"You can't mean that," Scorpius wondered in shock.

"What's not to mean?" Molly countered, bitterness warping the smile she gave him, "Lucy sold her soul to the Shadows a long time ago and I killed her, no parent wants that for their child. And that's not even getting into how screwed up I am."

"You're not screwed up!" Scorpius insisted defensively and this time she laughed, it was a chillingly hollow laugh, "It's not funny."

"You're right it's not," Molly agreed immediately, her sky eyes severe, "The fate of the world is on our shoulders and we dropped it, hundreds of people died including people we cared about, or people of the people we care about."

"You can't seriously blame yourself for any of that."

"Not all of us can ignore our share of the blame like you can."

"You blame me for Hogwarts?" Scorpius wondered, pausing in surprise that she of all people would be mad considering she'd seemed fine this past month. Well, she'd been distant but he'd chalked that up to her going through a lot.

"Of course I blame you!" Molly yelled, turning on him angrily, "I told you, Scorpius, I _told_ you straight up not to leave or Hogwarts would fall then-"

"Well you didn't tell me you'd be captured and held prisoner! It's a pretty big part to leave out and they were all lying to me, they said-"

"I don't care about what they said! I care about what _I_ said, I care about what you _promised_ me," Molly insisted, tears building in the skies of her eyes, "And you wonder why I didn't tell you? My words mean so little to you that the first thing you did was run off-"

"That's not fair, Molly!" Scorpius insisted defensively, not wanting to fight but needing to get his side across, "My first instinct was to run off but you know what? I stopped myself! I remembered what you said and I stayed, even though it killed me inside I _stayed_. It was only after-"

"How noble of you! I'm sure Rose or August appreciated your moment of hesitation when-"

"Let me finish!"

"Then finish!" Molly yelled, throwing up her arms.

"It ate away at me, okay? It's easy to tell someone to ignore it when you're not the one being torn up knowing someone you love is out there in pain, that every second you're in class is a second more that they're suffering, that you could lose them forever and there's nothing you can do," Scorpius told her, feeling himself tearing up and swallowed, "Until I thought of something, I realized there _was_ something I could do. I couldn't just do nothing when I realized I could save you, I couldn't live with myself then if I did nothing so it was only _after_ that that I left."

"But you didn't have to leave! You're part of a group, you could've just told them-"

"I tried to tell Varanian but he was busy with the evacuation! And you think I could trust any of them to help you after they all lied to me?!" Scorpius interjected, pausing to wipe at his own eyes and realizing unfortunately he couldn't mention his meeting with Brutus as proof it had been possible for him to leave without Hogwarts falling, "I couldn't wait any longer and I… I _really_ did think if I could get back in time it would be fine."

"Well it wasn't!" Molly cried.

"I know and if you want to be mad at me then be mad at me," Scorpius offered sincerely, holding out his hands, "I wanted to give my side and I have, I'm not going to apologize for saving your life. For better or worse, it's done and if you want to be mad and hate and break up with me then that's fine, I knew it was possible and I'd rather you be alive to hate me then be gone forever. I love you, Molly, I love you even more then I love being with you. I made my choice and I'll respect yours."

He finished saying what he had to say and fell into anxious silence, he meant what he said but that didn't mean he wanted her to hate him. She didn't immediately say anything though, just folded her arms and gazed at him with an unreadable expression. Gray meeting blue as their eyes caught, the silence stretched out between them somehow drowning out even the howl of wind. He dared not break the silence though, or move or even look away.

"If you knew then what you know now, would you still have left Hogwarts?" Molly asked him after so long that Scorpius had almost forgotten they weren't statues, her tone one of the utmost serious.

Scorpius blinked, trying to process what he would do if he knew what would happen and finding himself unsure. Knowing what would happen also included knowing Molly caved on the base's location, meaning if he _hadn't_ left she might not have been alive long enough for Varanian to be able to go after her especially with the base fallout to deal with. He didn't like options A or B, his first instinct would really be to still save her just without destroying Hogwarts, using the information about how it went for a better outcome, he didn't want to lose either thing. He still wasn't sure exactly what he'd do though, nor did he think it was the answer she was looking for. He sighed.

"Honestly?" Scorpius spoke up finally, "I don't know what I'd do."

"Okay," Molly said, her expression still unreadable as she unfolded her arms, "I think I want to head back now."

"Where does that leave us?"

"Honestly?" Molly wondered before shrugging and throwing out her arms again, "I don't know where we stand, Scor, I don't know how to feel."

"Okay," Scorpius said, he knew she had a lot on her mind and uncertainty was preferable to outright hatred. At any rate, her health and recovery were more important, "Let's head back then."

They headed back in silence, hands firmly shoved into pockets. Not for the first time – and probably not the last – Scorpius wished he knew what to say to comfort her, like Michael probably would when he wasn't being a drunk prat. He picked his eyes up off his shoes to glance at her, seeing she was actually looking up and to her left. He opened his mouth to speak-

"Scor?" a familiar voice spoke and Scorpius' head swiveled back, noticing two things. One, they were back at Hogan's and two, Varanian was also approaching the door though had stopped presumably upon seeing them. He was still looking like a wreck, his scruffy tawny hair seemed to have more gray whenever he saw him. Scorpius let out a relieved breath though, least he knew Varanian was okay, "Hey Molly, good to see you on your feet."

"Thanks," Molly offered, giving Varanian a half-hearted smile before returning inside. Scorpius wished he could make her smile again.

"So how are you doing?" Scorpius asked of Varanian, "I was worried."

"Was anyone hurt?" Varanian asked and swallowed instead of answering.

"No."

"Well good, that's what matters," Varanian said with a nod and his eyes drifted off, seeming losing himself in thought.

"Hermione wanted me to tell you the alliance meeting is set for tomorrow afternoon," Scorpius pointed out, snapping Varanian's piercing gaze back to him.

"Okay, be ready for that then."

"What do you mean by that?" Scorpius questioned in confusion as Varanian started towards the door, Scorpius following.

"Well you're coming too, its two from each side and Hermione as mediator since she's both. Obviously that means you and I, the Minister and probably Potter," Varanian explained, his expression souring at the final name as he opened the door, "So feel free to think of anything you want from them as an alliance condition, not that matters as we're agreeing anyway."

"We are?"

"Yeah. After giving it some thought, there's really no reason not to," Varanian told him as they went into the house, "Whatever my issues with them, removing Shadows from their posts within the Ministry is beneficial to everyone. We know who many of them are and they have the power to take care of them, it's pretty much what we always wanted. Win-Win for everyone but the Shadows, we've always been on the same side against them even if we're not."

"Right… And you're sure I'm the most qualified person to be with you at the meeting?"

"Of course, I don't even know who else I'd take."

"Great," Scorpius sighed, he supposed Brutus would have to wait yet another day.

* * *

Sly slumped down into his seat opposite Milton, rubbing at the ache starting to build in his head. Stupid migraines, trying to ruin the otherwise perfectly productive day he'd been having. He ripped off a large chunk of his bread and dipped it into the blood bath that was tomato stew before taking a bite, the bread was nice and fresh he noticed.

"So how long does it usually take to choose a favorite color?" Milton asked him and Sly face-palmed, his headache did not appreciate that particularly much.

"I swear to the god I don't believe in, how many times do I have to tell you to drop the whole color thing?!" Sly complained at him irritably, Milton continued to stare at him blankly, "It's like watching a dressed up monkey that thinks he's people, if I have to explain it to you then you're missing the entire point of the exercise. You're just not people, Milton, that's why actual people – like myself – find you frustratingly intolerable. Stop trying to be people, just go back to picking your own fleas and eating them like a good little brainless animal."

"What? I don't have fleas…"

"Okay, Milton, I think I've had enough of you for now and I'm going to go sit somewhere else," Sly decided and went to stand, "I'll find some other losers to sit with."

"Wait!"

"Aw what's the matter?" Sly smirked though his tone was mockingly sincere, "Is it too much for your small barbarian brain to handle that you don't stop existing when a real human stops gracing you with their presence?"

"No, it's just that you should be careful," Milton pointed out and Sly rolled his eyes with a sigh, maybe one of this days he'd figure out to offend these freaks, "I know you don't like me much-"

"Holy fucking ghosts, did you _actually_ notice something?"

"Yes, I did," Milton confirmed though didn't seem fazed by it, Sly supposed that would expecting too much and dipped his bread again, "But that's why it might be better to sit with me, they pay attention to who you sit with and…"

"And… I should care about this why?" Sly prompted impatiently, rolling his hand to gesture for the idiot to continue.

"And who they notice you sit with is who you'll be pitted against in the Test, where you prove your worth as an Elite by surviving on a dangerous island and escaping through this tower. The tests to get to the top require two people, once you make it… well, you have to fight to the death because only one person can past the Test at a time," Milton explained and actually looked saddened while Sly idly continued eating, "I- I always used to sit with Christina, she was great with potions so you might actually have liked her. We made it all the way to the end together and realized what we had to do…"

"And then you murdered her?" Sly wondered interestedly, smirking as Milton's sorrow filled eyes drifted towards the floor.

"We agreed no hard feelings, it was a fair fight and I… I won, I murdered her," Milton admitted, stumbling over his words as guilt creeped into his otherwise boring voice, "It's part of the Test, Soul Eaters only want the best of the best for their Elite soldiers and that means not only being the most skilled but also being able to put the wishes of the Soul Eaters above our own selfish desires because we live to serve, we're their soldiers."

"What has this got to do with your original point again?"

"If you don't want to kill people you care about be careful who you sit with," Milton offered and Sly couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, you think I actually care about those degenerates?" Sly wondered, smirking in amusement at such a ludicrous suggestion while Milton looked at him blankly because he was just an idiot, "Everyone here – aside from staff members, of course but they're irrelevant to this topic – are either brain dead zombies, like yourself, or losers, like those people, and maybe a couple of psychos. I'd rather be around people then non-people and unfortunately the only ones who class as people are those losers, its fun to get a rise out of them but I obviously think little of them. I don't care about them, I certainly don't care if any of them bites the dust. Good riddance."

"Okay," Milton said, shrugging slightly and going back to eating with a still blank look, "Thought I'd warn you just in case."

"Why?" Sly questioned, still grinning at the thought of him liking such wastes of oxygen and dipping the last chunk of his bread. After all, Milton said he knew he disliked him so if anything he should want Sly to kill people he cared to make him suffer.

"Because it's hard to have to kill someone you care about, even if it's deemed necessary by the Soul Eaters. I… I still get bad dreams about it," Milton admitted, looking guilty again and Sly wasn't sure if was from killing his dumb girlfriend – how stupid would you have to be to lose a duel to Milton of all people? – or from feeling bad about following orders because original thought was clearly too frightful for what was left of the rotted remnants of his mind. Damn, he should have said that aloud, "I'm trying to be a good mentor, it's what we're supposed to do and advising you to avoid going through that seems like the right thing to do."

"Only idiots try to help people they know hate them," Sly pointed out as he made to leave again, "You're too stupid to bother conversing with, have fun reminiscing about killing your worthless girlfriend, you psychotic freak- like seriously, who does that? Freak, you're a terrible person."

On that note after a pointless warning, Sly ditched him to go find the others. Like he cared if those losers died, they probably wouldn't live long enough for this test thing anyway with how anti-Shadow they were. He spotted Rocio's fiery flare of hair fairly easily but the only other person at the table was the world's ugliest toddler, Damien, which was odd since the others – besides her little brother who was sitting with his mentor, it wasn't uncommon – weren't actually in the room. Maybe they'd died even sooner then he'd thought?

"Hello losers," Sly offered in greeting, sliding into the seat beside Damien and offered Rocio who immediately scowled at him.

"Hi," Damien said, waving stupidly as he was sitting right beside him but of course he was too dumb to realize this.

"Damien, don't answer to someone calling you a loser," Rocio complained at him, "And go annoy someone else, Sly, these seats are reserved."

"I would love to go annoy someone else but we're living in a tower full of zombies who don't react to that kind of thing."

"Yes, people are strange here- they don't know about Quidditch!" Damien exclaimed, his ugly face twisting into an even worse shape at this apparently astounding revelation. Sly realized this struck him as odd, usually he was too busy crying about Blood Quills pain to contribute to any conversation, "Can you believe that?"

"And why are you in such a good mood today?" Sly questioned of him as Damien shoveled a spoonful of his stew back into his mouth, dropping some onto himself like a disgusting animal, "Someone as ugly as you who could be mistaken for the runt of a troll litter has no right to be so cheerful."

"Huh?" Damien wondered, blinking at him in confusion and Sly resisted the urge to face palm only because he recalled it hadn't been pleasant earlier. Why was he forever cursed to be surrounded by idiots too stupid to comprehend what he was saying?

"Master Ludwig realized he has a skin condition so he doesn't have to use a Blood Quill, he's been happier since then," Rocio explained for him and Damien grinned enthusiastically, showing off an ugly mess of missing teeth… Sly was dreading the process of losing his own deciduous teeth, he was glad to be late to _that_ party. It was just… well it was just gross, he remembered Whit teasing him about that actually… he still missed his sister.

"Yeah! I got all healed, it was great."

"Hmm," Sly had to muse as he'd been momentarily distracted by his thoughts and took a spoonful of his stew to make it look more deliberate, "So where's the rest of the peanut gallery?"

"What?" Damien wondered, his smile blanking in confusion again.

"Even I don't know what that one means," Rocio pointed out, typical dumb idiots… though he thought that might be a muggle expression to be fair, "But I guess you want to know where my brothers and friends are? Even though Xerxes is right over there."

"Were the others killed for their insolence?" Sly questioned, smirking at the look of panic it brought to Damien's ugly mug.

"No, just being punished. Probably anyway, I know Emerald is for doing bad on a test and it happens all the time with Cyrus, Davin waits for him since he's blind. So if you came to try scaring Damien with death, you failed. Please go to hell and don't come back tomorrow."

"Well that was rude."

" _You_ are going to criticize _me_ for being rude?" Rocio wondered so incredulously she almost seemed amused, "I thought you had a condition that you'd die if you weren't rude every other minute."

Sly laughed, that was actually a good one. Surprising, shreds of intelligence were pretty rare amongst the Training Tower kids or any kids really, or even amongst adults actually. Damn, were people stupid. He opened his mouth to make a comeback but was interrupted by the return of her older brother and the blind brat, he found himself scowling in annoyance at the interruption. Cyrus was trembling a little in a way Sly had come to learn recently was a result of being cruciated, Davin was guiding him. Sly rubbed at his head again, feeling the pain starting to press against the insides of his skull. When he was done eating he really just needed to go lie down, least it had happened during classes.

"Okay, they're here," Rocio stated, "Go away now, Sly, vamonos."

"Vama- _what_?" Sly questioned in confusion, pretty sure that hadn't been English and he was only starting to learn Latin. Rocio smirked.

"¿Qué pasa? ¿No hablas Español, Sly?"

"Don't talk at me in languages I don't understand!" Sly snapped irritably as the other two reached them, Cyrus slumping down beside Rocio. Damien halted in stuffing his face to smile and wave… whoever tested against him would have a cake walk, an inanimate rock could probably best anyone stupid enough to wave at the blind.

"Then learn the languages, it's not hard!" Cyrus complained at him even more irritably, giving a groan of frustration and burying his face in his illegible Blood Quill scarred hands.

"I'll get our food, back in a minute," Davin said and left.

"Having a bad day, Cyrus?" Sly smirked at the blind boy, "Maybe things would go better if you learned to see, it's not hard."

"Oh, shut up!" Cyrus barked, lifting his head to glare in the vaguely correct direction, "You think you're so smart and so clever-"

"They're the same thing, dumbass."

"The point is that it doesn't matter how smart you think you are! They'll still hurt you any chance they get just because they're evil, you think you can handle the pain but give it a few more years of never-stopping pain and suffering and you'll be just as desperate to get out as the rest of us!" Cyrus yelled and Sly's grin only widened, someone was touchy today and he apparently knew it as he visibly looked like he was trying to reign in his anger, "Too bad you'll have missed your chance to escape by then."

"You're planning to escape?" Sly wondered and actually laughed at the absurdity of this young blind child escaping from a place protected by the most powerful magical group the world had ever known, Damien seemingly had competition for the stupidest idiot award, "Tell me, did the torture knock a few screws loose or were you always delusional?"

"My mom is going to save me," Cyrus told him, sounding so very much like he believed it that Sly would've laughed again except he'd miss what the lunatic was saying, "She escaped from them when I was captured and she'll have been planning to rescue me, I _know_ it, it's only a matter of time before she finds a way."

"You really think Mummy is going to save you?" Sly taunted, his words oozing as much mockery as he could squeeze into his tone to emphasize how stupid Cyrus' belief was, "After all this time, it should be pretty obvious even to the blind that she clearly doesn't care about you, any parent would be happy to be rid of a sickly burden of a child."

"Sly!" Rocio exclaimed in shock, Damien continued stuffing his face unconcerned though.

"Not my mom, she loves me and she _will_ save me," Cyrus reiterated, his misaligned glare intensifying and his body tensing with pent up rage, "I know it. She's not like you British people who think it's okay to abandon their children, she'd never leave me on purpose like Roman did."

"If she loves you so much then where is she?" Sly questioned, leaning back comfortably – or as comfortably as one could be on unyielding wooden benches – and continued to smirk triumphantly, "If she truly gave even half a damn then where is she? Why hasn't she saved you already? Five years is a long time."

"Its four years and the Shadows are very powerful, obviously it takes time to figure out where I am and what to do and everything."

"I don't think so-"

"I don't care what you think! I know my mom, I know she'd never stop until we're together again! I _know_ it! I think I know my own mother better then you do."

"Well the thing is I follow the news, I'd have heard if some crazy woman was trying to rally people to her lost cause of saving her child from the Shadows," Sly pointed out, smirking cruelly at the effect his words were having and knowing just what to say next. Cyrus opened his mouth again but Sly continued first, holding up a hand for emphasis since Rocio was still watching with murderous eyes even though Cyrus was blind, "But if you are so insistent that she must have done such a thing, I can only come to one logical conclusion on the matter."

"What?" Cyrus asked grumpily, Rocio scowling.

"She died trying."

"NO!" Cyrus raged, actually jumping to his feet and Sly allowed his smile to show teeth, "She's not dead!"

"But it's the only reasonable explanation," Sly insisted, delighted at the outcome, "Mummy's dead. Her corpse's probably long butchered and is now just another decaying sack of bones serving as an Inferius for the very people she sought to defeat."

"NO! NO! MY MOM'S NOT DEAD!" Cyrus screamed, drawing his wand and Sly laughed. He couldn't even cast a spell yet but he'd be a fool to be afraid of someone _blind_ trying to threaten him, Cyrus was still shaking even. He couldn't hit a truck if it was parked an inch from his nose, "YOU TAKE THAT BACK, SLY, YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

"You can't take back the truth," Sly smirked, putting his hands behind his head and noticing the exchange had drawn the attention of those closest, "She's dead and you know it, if not you wouldn't be upset. Poor baby blind boy is all alone, my heart bleeds for you-"

"What bile does a black heart such as yours bleed?" Rocio demanded, momentarily knocking the smirk from his face as he hadn't expected her to speak up, "I hadn't even realized you had one."

"Hearts are overrated," Sly pointed out, his smirk returning as he got over his surprise at her speaking and was unfazed by the attempt to insult him, "They're a weak spot, fatal flaw in the human design. You're better off without them, look at Cyrus' dead mother..."

"My mom isn't dead!" Cyrus snapped angrily, his wand still in Sly's direction and still shaking. He was pathetic, "She's alive! You'll see! She's going to come back and save me, she's going to save all of us!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Sly laughed as Davin returned with two bowls, just when he thought the delusional dial wouldn't turn any higher.

"Calm down, Cyrus," Davin urged his friend, looking extremely concerned and sparing a fearful glance for – presumably - signs of an adult, "I got the food."

"I don't want their food!" Cyrus yelled, flinging out his arm and striking the bowls with the back of his hand to send them crashing to the ground and splattering crimson ooze everywhere. Sly jolted in surprise but his mouth remained ajar in a glee, in contrast he saw Cyrus was choking up and his crackling voice condemning him as being close to tears, "I don't want anything to do with them! I want to go home, I want my mom…"

"What is the meaning of this disruption?!" a familiar voice snapped and Sly saw one of the staff approaching, "Stirring up trouble again, Cyrus?"

It was Master Ludwig, whose pinpoint eyes darted over the scene menacingly- though Sly had come to realize menacing was just his normal facial expression so it was hard to tell whether it was of much concern. Emerald was with him and slipped in silently beside Rocio with an unreadable expression, reminding him forcefully of her brother – Amadeus, not the ugly idiot or the baby – who similarly was good at blending in with the background and being unreadable… Sly hoped he was alright.

"No, it was me," Davin lied and it would've been somewhat convincing if Sly wasn't sure that Ludwig had heard Cyrus, what an idiot, "I tripped and dropped-"

"Liar!" Master Ludwig barked and slapped Davin across the face with the back of his hand, served him right for being an idiot. Davin didn't flinch or look afraid, didn't even turn his head back to face him, "You disgrace your half-brother's blood, you despicable wretch. If you're going to lie then make your scenario believable, I already heard Cyrus and just wanted more information on the cause."

"The cause was you!" Cyrus countered stupidly and angrily though sounding increasingly close to tears, kicking at the bowls and jabbing his arm in Master Ludwig's direction, "You and this whole Shadow army of psychos! I don't want to eat your damn food, screw your food! I hate you, I hate you all! You're evil!"

"Well someone's feeling masochistic today," Master Ludwig commented, withdrawing his wand and Cyrus lowered his arm, his body now trembling again except this time from tears. Or maybe fear, or still from the Cruciatus Curse, what did Sly know? "Some time in the dungeon should serve you well."

"Is that really necessary?" Davin pleaded, looking back now and very concerned for his friend.

"I don't think it is, why don't y'all just take a breath?" a newcomer interjected in a thick Southern American accent and Sly's expression became a scowl as he watched the crimson crawl back into the bowls which levitated themselves onto the table neatly, "It's an easy fix, see Master? Nothing worth getting all worked up over."

"Shut up, Serrick," Master Ludwig commanded, barely acknowledging the spell work as he raised his wand to Cyrus, " _In_ -"

Sly jolted in surprise as spell was silenced as a streak of red struck him from behind, sending his body crumpling to the ground and revealing Mo Serrick standing behind him. The bag of bones was only around Milton's age but was so scrawny he looked younger, somehow he still managed to have a commanding presence though and held his wand like he'd been born with it crafted already inside his bony hand. He supposed stunning a member of staff would do that, the dead eyed blank slates all around the room all gave gasps of shock. _Show-off_ , Sly grumbled bitterly to himself and folded his arms, in contrast he saw Emerald smirk.

"You attacked a Master!" someone from the crowd cried accusingly as Mo lowered his wand, putting his hand on his hip in a way Sly was sure would look stupid if he tried emulated.

"I told him to take a breath," Mo pointed out unconcerned, brushing it off with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Ain't no point punishing someone already tortured just for having a differing opinion, though really Cyrus? You know better than to rile these people up, they go nuts."

"Says the guy who just attacked a teacher," Sly scoffed while Cyrus wiped shakily at his eyes, Davin squeezed his arm comfortingly.

"You shut up, you little hellion, ain't nobody talking to you," Mo offered without so much as a glance in his direction much to Sly's offense, he instead approached Cyrus with a sympathetic expression, "I know you don't like it here but you got to try to make the best out of it, y'know? I was thinking-"

"Hillbillies can think?!"

"-of any way to make things easier for you with you being blind and all," Mo continued, not only completely ignoring him but speaking with increasing enthusiasm. He was so rude, "I had an idea for making up a spell to use _echo-location_ to make up for it. It's like seeing with the sounds, works for the dolphins and the bats- it works, I've seen it on the Discovery Channel."

"I don't know what that even means," Cyrus wondered in confusion and Mo opened his mouth to continue but they were interrupted by another Master.

"What is going on in here?!" Master Farkas called out as he came in, peering over his thick round spectacles in confusion. He was elderly and a bit round around with the middle, half-hunched over from age with a wisp of white hair remaining. Still, he had his wand in his hand quickly when he saw his comrade down and flicked it in a motion that Sly was sure was a non-verbal spell, "Why is Master Ludwig unconscious?"

"We just came to a bit of an impasse, nothing to worry about," Mo brushed it aside, gesturing dismissively with his hand as he did so and it cheered Sly up a bit to think Mo would be in trouble now, Master Farkas must've been more rational then Master Ludwig though as he gave the yank a wary look before reviving his friend.

"He stunned him!" several of the regular zombies called out, pointing to Mo as the younger man got to his feet, Master Ludwig turned on Mo angrily while over in opposite land Master Farkas beamed.

"You cast a successful Stunning Spell?!" Master Farkas wondered and Mo grinned sheepishly in response, he had a lopsided grin at that and uneven teeth, "And on an adult male to boot? I am very impressed with you! That is some _excellent_ spell work right there, you never cease to amaze me."

"Excellent?! The little bastard hit me while my back was turned!" Master Ludwig raged furiously, a vein on his forehead bulging.

"Then don't turn your back on him, it's not my fault you were foolish enough to be bested by an eleven year old who hasn't even been here that long," Master Farkas stated dismissively, causing the younger man's face to turn the same color as the tomato stew but the older had already turned back to Mo and clapped him on the back proudly, "Amazing stuff, Mo, you're going to go far one day within the ranks of the Soul Eaters."

"I'll do my best, Sir," Mo promised, looking pleased by the praise.

"Not when he does poorly in the other areas besides spell work, he won't," Master Ludwig grumbled sulkily and Sly was inclined to agree.

"Oh I'm sure he'll learn," Master Farkas brushed it off with a wave of his liver-spotted hand, his attention shifting to Cyrus and Davin, "And what are you two standing around for? Sit and eat already, designated meal time doesn't last forever."

"They need to be punished, I was just about to take Cyrus to the dungeons for-"

"Well you should have done that instead of letting yourself be stunned like weakling then, too late now," Master Farkas cut him off and Master Ludwig's face became fueled by indignant rage.

"You don't even know what they did!"

"I _just_ got done torturing Cyrus for doing poorly at target practice, whatever he did probably isn't worth further punishment and he's going to be off translating for General Stephan soon anyway. Get over yourself, Lucas, and if you don't want to be overruled don't let yourself be stunned," Master Farkas decided with a tone of finality and Master Ludwig stormed off seething so much it looked about to ooze out of him. Sly sighed, he'd wanted them to get in trouble, "And I already told you boys to return to your meal, be grateful I'm feeling merciful."

"Yes, Master Farkas," Davin said quickly, grabbing one of the bowls and guiding Cyrus off to another table. Seemingly satisfied, Master Farkas turned back to Mo as he walked off in the opposite direction, engaging him in enthusiastic conversation about his use of a stunning spell that Sly quickly zoned out of as he noticed the others at his table were moving after Davin.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Sly complained.

"Anywhere you're not," Rocio scoffed as the group ditched him.

Sly sighed indignantly and rubbed at his head again, though he supposed it was perfectly justified it was still inconvenient for him. Well, least it had been fun while it lasted. He picked his bowl back up and went to rejoin Milton, who he realized had not bothered to intervene when Cyrus had drawn his wand on him even though he supposedly wanted to be a good mentor.

"And what the hell was that?!" Sly demanded of Milton as he slammed the bowl down across from him, causing the older boy to jump, "Good mentor my ass."

"What? We're not supposed to intervene in disputes," Milton pointed out as if it was obvious though his monotonous tone was polite as ever, "That's the Masters' jobs, we're to alert them and stay out of it. Getting involved means getting in trouble too, that's what good soldiers do… you should _maybe_ try remember that instead of um… bothering people? It's not what we're supposed to do."

"Milton, Master Farkas just _praised_ someone for interfering," Sly offered with a tired sigh, "Doesn't that tell you something?"

"Um… N-"

"It tells you initiative is good," Sly informed him as he picked up a spoonful of stew, "If all Soul Eaters were braindead zombies they wouldn't succeed at anything, you need people with brains to lead them, you should have interfered."

"But I might've gotten in trouble…" Milton muttered unhappily.

"That's why someday people like me will be in power and you'll _still_ be standing around trying to figure out what color you like as you're mowed down by the enemy, you're worthless Milton."


	17. IIX: The Alliance

_**Thanks so much to:** berliemcdonald, Colin Creevey, Judal Hiwatari and ChakraKitty for reviewing!_

 _ **Author's Note:** Worst chapter ever. I don't know how it is to read anymore but to write it has been a nightmare, this has gone through more rewrites then any other chapter I've ever written- maybe even all rewrites combined, its that bad, there's only one part that hasn't had at least one rewrite. It probably doesn't seem it but you have no idea how hard I've been trying to get this finished, its been a nightmare chapter and there's so much dialogue which is always the most difficult and most time consuming for me to write. I know this just sounds like whining which is why I don't like giving explanations as for why there are delays but considering the length of time its been I felt obligated to say something even if its probably not what you want or care to hear, I don't even want to say anything now as I'm aware every second I'm typing is one more second delaying me posting this and I feel like I'm saying nothing and everything anyway (which is how this chapter feels to write, weirdly). Its a long chapter too, there was just no good place to split it nor did I really want to so I hope the no people still reading after such an atrocious delay can enjoy that at least. Maybe. Right? I don't know, you don't care. Love it, hate it, least it exists for you to read write now and if it makes you feel any better, I don't expect and sincerely hope the next chapter won't take so long to get out. I thank you for your patience anyone still here and apologize for the delay, believe me no one gets more frustrated by my own delays then I am  
_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _How did Scorpius not know what he'd do about it? Isn't it as simple as just- stopping Lysander from discovering?_**  
 _Because that's not the point, Molly didn't ask because she wanted a practical answer of what he'd do with the future information she was asking because she wanted to know whether he would trust her judgement now he understood the consequences, basically she wanted to know to gauge whether or not he'd believe her next time. Scorpius said he didn't know exactly because his instinct would be to just act on the information and stop Lysander, still trying to save both which isn't what she really wanted to know and he doesn't know how he'd react to what she really wanted to know_

 ** _Why did it not matter if Hogwarts fell after Scor's 7th year?_**  
 _Hogsmeade is the only pure magical village and Hogwarts the only major wizarding school in the country, preserving as many of those lives as possible is pretty important. They know when the year would end so could plan for it, evacuate Hogsmeade while the students are safely carried away by train so there would have been a lot less casualties and captures_

 ** _Was this (Sly and Whit) a baby genius reference?_**  
 _Depends what you consider a reference, I got the names from that film but I used them because I thought they were fitting both for the characters themselves and as names their father would choose for them_

 ** _Will anyone ever tell Cyrus his mother is gone?_**  
 _The problem is most people don't know she's dead, only Gray do so none of the people Cyrus has contact with right now know to even tell him or they would've_

 ** _Has Scorpios seen his parenrs yet?_**  
 _Not yet_

* * *

Scorpius returned into the house while Varanian went to go speak to Hermione, Molly had gone to her room and he thought it was best to leave her be. Leebin went back outside with his daughter to practice his swordsmanship, Myriam started on dinner and Scorpius found himself reduced to waiting once more with Lamb for company.

He took out his pocket watch, idly checking the time and running his finger over the cool metal. Savas' pocket watch, the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper. It still meant a lot to him though, after all it was a gift from Varanian. He was unaware of his ancestry of all, Scorpius didn't see any reason to tell him otherwise. His hand glanced over the inscription on the pocket watch and he froze, it was Latin so he didn't understand it but he had been meaning to get it translated…

"Hey Ephraim," Scorpius called out to the werewolf who'd been tidying up some of the kids' toys, causing Lamb to pause as he threw him a glance, "Didn't you say you knew Latin?"

"Y- Y- Yeah," Lamb answered, sounding unsure or maybe just confused, "W- W- Why?"

"Could you translate this for me?" Scorpius asked of him, standing up and crossing the room to hand him the pocket watch. Lamb took it in his trembling fingers, dark eyes skimming it intently.

"P- Per sangui-"

"Not what it says, what does it _mean_ ," Scorpius insisted impatiently and Lamb gave him another glance before sighing.

"It means 'th-through b- blood, we live f- forever.'"

Scorpius felt a strange chill run through his bones upon hearing Lamb's translation, it just struck him as so fitting for Savas that he could've read it right out of the twisted journal. Savas had mentioned blood quite a lot, not just in relation to his crimes but believing his son would be like him simply because it was in his blood… which was _probably_ why said son seemed slightly paranoid about 'bad blood' from the little he'd seen of Enoch. At any rate, he just hadn't expected it. The real question was if it meant anything, anything relevant to learning of his experiments with soul.

"Sc- Scorp- Scorpius?" Lamb queried, drawing Scorpius away from his thoughts to see the werewolf was offering him the watch back.

"Thank you," Scorpius offered as he took it back and pocketed it, "Always meant to ask what that meant."

Lamb opened his mouth to say something else but they were both distracted by the door, turning he saw Hogan and Varanian had returned with Hogan quickly heading upstairs. It wasn't unusual, Oathan needed frequent medical attention from his injury but what was surprising though was that Varanian followed, Scorpius would've expected him to come speak to him about the alliance meeting.

Curious, he left Lamb to head upstairs after the two men, both of whom did go into the 'medical' room where Molly and Oathan were. Scorpius followed and found Varanian hovering in the doorway with his arms folded while Hogan was indeed working on Oathan at the closest bed, flicking his wand over the small unconscious child. He seemed to be struggling to breathe correctly, rapid scratchy breaths were rattling out weakly. Molly was on the bed beyond him closer to the window, she was lying on her side with her back to them. He wondered if she was sleeping.

"So did Hermione tell you more about the meeting?" Scorpius asked of Varanian and the metamorphmagus gave him a distant nod, he was much more focused on Hogan as if waiting to ask him something.

The Healer was looking focused as he continued waving his wand in meticulously complex movements he didn't recognize, Scorpius really didn't know a lot about healing. Finally he seemed to finish whatever he was doing, letting out a relieved breath which seemed to iron out the frenzy of Oathan's own frantic breaths. Hogan flicked his wand seemingly aimlessly and Oathan's shirt unbuttoned readily, he finally lowered the wand and instead picked up a jar from the bedside table. It contained some pale blue ointment which Hogan took a glob of and started gently rubbing the salve over Oathan's horribly scarred chest, each circular motion seemed to gradually ease his breathing into a normal pace.

"Is he okay now?" Varanian wondered, seemingly having been waiting for Hogan to do this. The healer threw him a brief glare before going back to rubbing in the salve with slow circular motions.

"He's stable again," Hogan admitted rather begrudgingly, still focused on his charge.

"How soon until he wakes up?"

"A while."

"How soon until you think he'll be able to fight the Shadow Master?" Varanian asked and Hogan's jaw dropped incredulously, cyan eyes quickly flashing to anger.

" _Never!_ Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Hogan snapped at him furiously, Varanian looked entirely unconcerned however, "He's a five year old _child_!"

"A child who can destroy souls," Varanian pointed out calmly, "That should be able to circumvent the Shadow Master's immortality, it did for Corvinus."

"His body is in pieces!" Hogan insisted and pointed to the boy's chest, like his elder half-brother it was covered in layers of words carved in from the Blood Quills but unlike said brother he had scars on top of them from whatever he'd endured at Corvinus Ashain's hands. He also had the Shadow Mark, the winding skeletal snake of the Shadows was twisted through the words with its two-pronged tongue sticking out. It was the area over his heart that Hogan gestured to through, there were two livid scars side by side like a pause button symbol, "His psychotic brothers stabbed him through the heart-"

"He was trying to kill them," Scorpius interrupted defensively.

" _They stabbed the five year old through the heart!"_ Hogan reiterated each word angrily, throwing him a glare now, "It wasn't given enough time to heal before he was pushed into fighting, his heart was so fragile the massive amount of magic he used to destroy the lunatic's soul tore it apart, ripped the half-healed wound right back up, ripped open his _heart_. You get how fucking important the heart is, don't you? He'd be dead if you hadn't brought him to me, my magic is the only thing keeping the poor kid alive! It was a magical wound that can't just be healed, I have to keep knitting the flesh together as best I can and let it heal by itself. The simple beating of his own heart keeps tearing the wound – or part of it -back open and I already have it beating as minimally as possible! That's why he's healing so damn slowly! His body is a wreck, he's been pushed through exhaustion and starvation, left with barely healed wounds – leaving him fragile and weak – and given Vanharisk, fucking Vanharisk! Because that seizure inducing brain destroying monstrosity was exactly what he needed! He's too weak to even fight this, to fight _anything_ right now. He doesn't even have the energy to give to his own body just to recovery and magic can only do so much, you _have_ to give him time to heal. And by time I don't mean a few weeks or months then shove him out there, it will take _years_ for him to recover from this, actual _years_ \- it will take so long the Shadow Master will already have won by the time he's ready to even try! And that's thinking of the best case scenario! Oathan isn't the answer."

"Not yet," Molly muttered from across the room, speaking so softly Scorpius wasn't completely sure he'd heard it.

"Great," Varanian sighed, speaking with hollow words as he turned and left. Scorpius hurried after him.

"Did you really think Oathan would be able to stop the Shadow Master?" Scorpius wondered of him as he jogged down the stairs to keep up, Varanian stopped to give him a half-hearted shrug.

"The Ministry are making a deal with us for our help in dealing with the Shadows, they're probably going to ask how we plan to stop the Shadow Master and I don't have an answer. She may be able to survive death but she can't survive losing her soul, in the cruelest twist of fate we actually have not one but _two_ people in our grasp actually capable of such an impossible feat yet both either can't or won't for varying reasons!"

"Well I'm sure we'll think of something."

"Like _what_? The only person capable of actually matching her was her brother and he's dead," Varanian asked, sounding in genuine need of an answer. Scorpius had to bite his tongue, Calderon may be dead but he had his soul and when he found his body he could bring him back, "Brutus' plan was pretty sound though incredibly difficult to reenact and I can't see her falling for the same thing twice, I can't even change my appearance right now anyway. I don't have any tangible ideas and the fragments of ideas I have are all terrible, nothing works and no one has any answers."

"Like I said, I'm sure we'll think of something," Scorpius reiterated, trying to be encouraging, "We're making an alliance with the Ministry tomorrow – you might want to take a shower - not going into a last stand against the Shadow Master, we don't have to have an answer yet we just need to get through the meeting."

"Okay, you're right," Varanian sighed heavily but seemed to take on be taking it on board, he even sniffed at his clothing, "I'll- I'll go take a shower."

"Go for it," Scorpius urged him, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the bathroom and Varanian started to go towards it, "When you're done Myriam will probably be done with dinner so you should eat."

"Okay," Varanian called back over his shoulder.

Scorpius was left blinking in surprise at this, he stood by what he said but he still hadn't really expected blind agreement. He supposed Varanian was just wary after how bad he'd let his go recently and recognized he wasn't thinking completely rationally, pushing it out of his mind he went to go see if Myriam needed any help with dinner even though she'd probably just want to ask him about seeing his family but he wanted to make sure there was food for Varanian to eat lest he go off again.

It was a strange dinner, not because of the food – which was still good, Myriam was an excellent cook and whoever wouldn't hire her due to her lycanthropy was an idiot – but because of how divided they were. Usually they ate together but tonight, he and Varanian sat alone in the front room where he was filled in on more details of the alliance meeting whereas Molly didn't come down at all and he thought Leebin kept her company but then some of them were also in the kitchen so… it was just a little different. Not surprising in hindsight, Molly probably wanted- no, _needed_ more than a few hours away from him to think about everything and aside from the concern for his relationship he liked talking with Varanian, it seemed more productive than anything lately.

After that they turned in, again Varanian simply going along with his suggestion they rest and joined him, Hogan and Lamb in the front room like he had when under the Sleeping Draught. Hogan began his counting as usual which turned his thoughts back to the pocket watch, surely it had to mean _something_ in connection with the journal, and it couldn't just be something Savas had believed. Heck, even if it was just something Savas had believed that didn't mean it couldn't be a hint as to what the key to reading his journal was. Was blood used to decipher anything in anyway? But that didn't seem right, others had tried to decipher it before him and it seemed like an obvious thing to try considering the importance of blood to Savas was evident from the legible journal portions.

He also thought maybe he should ask for help, Leebin had a better understanding of people's minds then he did so maybe he'd have a better idea of what Savas might've- His thought was interrupted by a particularly loud sigh of frustration from Hogan, who he realized had seemed pretty low in his count. Scorpius glanced to his right and saw Varanian had just shifted positions to roll onto his side, forcing Hogan to start his ritual counting from scratch again. Varanian also looked annoyed, Scorpius realized, and soon rolled back onto his back which again had Hogan restart, both looking increasingly irritated. This happened several more times and it dawned on Scorpius this had probably been happening while he'd been lost in thought, Lamb was luckily sound asleep by now.

"Why do you keep counting?!" Varanian burst out in frustration.

"I need to count to get to sleep!" Hogan exclaimed in exasperation as if it was self-explanatory, which Scorpius supposed was since he'd guessed that already.

"Well then count in your head!"

"It doesn't work if I count in my head!"

"How in the world did you survive Hogwarts?" Varanian wondered, sounding completely flabbergasted.

"Sleeping Draught."

"Well take some of that! No one can sleep with that incessant noise."

"I can't take that because the enchantments I have to alert me to Oathan crashing won't work through it!" Hogan insisted defensively, "You take a Sleeping Draught."

"Like I'm doing that again, you knocked me out for a week!"

"Well what do you expect me to do?! Go sleep somewhere else?!"

"Well… yes, I guess that'd work," Varanian admitted and even in the gloom Scorpius saw the anger flash on Hogan's face as he threw up his arms in exasperation.

"Fine! I'll go sleep outside, in my own damn house!" Hogan spat angrily, gathering up his sleeping bag and storming out, grumbling furiously under his breath as he did so and slamming the door behind him. Varanian blinked in surprise, somehow seeming to not have expected that while Lamb just jumped a little then went back to sleep.

Ironically, Hogan leaving didn't seem to help Varanian as he continued to toss and turn. Scorpius closed his own eyes though, deciding to take advantage of the soothing silence left without Hogan's counting, his worries would still be there in the morning. He felt himself drifting, his thoughts becoming foggier as the cloud of sleep crept over them-

Out of nowhere he jolted as a bolt of pain shot through him, his eyes snapped open but saw only blackness. He tried to gasp at the pain but he couldn't breathe, in fact he couldn't move at all. He was paralyzed, as if he was in the grip of a body bind curse. He felt the pain spreading through him, weaving its way through his body before tightening around his heart.

His paralysis broke as the claw clenched on his heart, the pain was so fierce his body jolted violently and his eyes were forced open. This time he could see he was in Hogan's living room - the ceiling texture above him was visible in the gloom – and the pain was gone as suddenly as it came, he lay there breathing heavily.

"What?" Varanian called out sleepily, Scorpius turned and saw the metamorphmagi was sitting up with his wand in hand. He was blinking his eyes into focus, seemingly waking up as his next words were sharper, "You okay?"

"Yeah…?" Scorpius answered unsurely, his eyes drifting to where Hogan usually slept as he could've appreciated the Healer's opinion. It was probably just a dream anyway, probably, "S- Sorry, just a bad dream."

"Oh right, its okay," Varanian offered more sympathetically, hastily stashing his wand back away, "Don't worry about it."

"I'm fine, don't worry," Scorpius brushed it aside quickly, making a show of rolling onto his other side to go back to sleep.

He lay there for a while quietly, listening to Varanian tossing and turning – he felt kind of bad for waking him since he had trouble sleeping - once more. There was no further incident though, in fact the more time passed the less he remembered what had actually happened. Eventually he fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again until the morning when Varanian shook him gently awake, if he had any more dreams he didn't remember them.

Molly was still avoiding him at breakfast and Hogan was in a foul mood which made him decide not to ask about a health reason to explain last night's episode, not that it mattered as Varanian very much had his focus once he got back from checking on things. After eating – which Scorpius had to remind him to do – Varanian went through all the names of the known spies and a brief summary of what they knew while Scorpius wrote it down, he wanted to be able to hand over the list of spies immediately so the Ministry could deal with them as soon as possible. Once done with that Varanian went through everything they'd already talked about, they still had time but Varanian wanted to get there early so they headed out. Scorpius held his hand out for Varanian to apparate them once they got outside, Varanian looked at his hand curiously for a second.

"You still can't apparate?" Varanian wondered, half-asking really as he seemed to already know. Scorpius felt his cheeks burn in response, "We should really work on that later."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed hesitantly, ashamed enough of his continued failure already, "No point working on it right now though, we have the meeting."

"I know," Varanian confirmed, taking his hand and apparating them both in an instant.

He felt his body forcefully compressed into nothingness and reformed in a field, vibrant viridian grass was stretched out beneath the shining sunlight. Though it was more like a kind of clearing, they were boxed in by trees on three of the sides with the fourth blocked by a river instead, a river with even more trees on the opposing side. The Forest of Dean, he'd been told, why Hermione had picked here he didn't really know. Evidence she had been here was very clear, the only non-natural thing there was a large cerulean blue tent put in place specifically for this meeting.

Scorpius glanced over at Varanian, seeing the metamorphmagi had wandered off with wand waving around in hand. Figuring he was checking on whatever protective enchantments Hermione had put in place, he left him to it and headed into the tent. It was cozy inside, the carpeted floor leading him to confirm it wasn't a muggle one.

Opposite him was another exit he expected led back outside, there was a dresser to the side that had an empty pitcher on it. Most notably there was a sizable ovular table in the middle of the room with six comfortable looking chairs spaced around it – two on either side and one at each end – two of which were occupied by Hermione and Mrs Koray. They were poring over some official looking documents, Mrs Koray scribbling away with a quill and nodding at whatever Hermione had said. There was also some blank parchment and a few goblets, presumably for if they got thirsty – scattered about the table. The pair glanced at him briefly, the former with a look of surprise though the latter seemed uninterested and went straight back to her writing.

"You're early," Hermione commented as he came over to them, recovering quickly from her surprise, "I'm guessing it was Varanian's idea?"

"Accurate guess," Scorpius confirmed as he took a seat opposite, she nodded in acknowledgement, "It's not a problem, is it?"

"No, we're just doing a little work though. There's a bathroom through there-" Hermione gestured to the other exit he'd apparently falsely assumed led outside "-if you need it, or feel free to help yourself to a goblet of water if you get thirsty."

At this she withdrew her wand, tapping it in the direction of the pitcher which immediately filled itself with water. Scorpius nodded and muttered his thanks, though he was capable of summoning his own water. The two women went back to what they were doing, talking quietly amongst themselves while he simply waited. Varanian returned shortly, wand still in hand.

"Nothing suspicious so far, everything seems fine," Varanian commented as he entered before catching sight of the women, quickly pocketing his wand.

"What were you expecting?" Hermione wondered incredulously.

"You can never be too careful," Varanian shrugged as he took a seat beside Scorpius, Hermione going back to her conversation after repeating the same information she'd just said.

Varanian then began drumming his fingers across the table impatiently, this seemingly wasn't enough as he also started fidgeting, then rocking on his chair and drumming with both sets of fingers. Scorpius was starting to feel uncomfortable sitting still just from _watching_ him, the itch to move just oozed out of him. Either Varanian realized this or couldn't handle being stationary as he got up, taking to pacing around instead and poking his head in the bathroom. He hadn't been like this before, Scorpius could only guess he needed to be doing something to distract himself from his grief. Maybe he should tell him to drink some water and see if-

 _Scor?_

Scorpius' slightly slumped body shot bolt upright at the sound of his name, the sound spoken by a voice inside his own head that he hadn't heard since… since before rescuing Molly actually, a month ago. It was Calderon. His cousin, the Shadow Master's brother, the man whose soul he'd attached to his own to keep him alive. He sounded tired though, uncertain, and maybe even afraid but he was still relieved to hear him. Scorpius' mouth moved uselessly, he couldn't say anything in front of these people.

"Oh, you're early," someone commented and Scorpius jolted again, this time standing and spinning as the voice wasn't in his head.

Two men now stood in the entrance, the Minister for Magic and the Boy Who Lived himself, though both looked like they'd seen better days. For all the similarity he bore to his son, Harry Potter also looked completely different and not just age or because he had the famous scar and bedraggled Auror robes. He was a bit taller and thinner for starters - both in frame and in the face – and while his messy hair continued to stick up at all angles, the jet black was now laced with a near equal amount of silver and the emerald almonds they shared were embedded in dark circles, hidden behind circular spectacles.

"You alright, Scorpius?" Harry wondered, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Fine," Scorpius answered quickly, briefly considering excusing himself for the bathroom to try speak to Calderon but the animosity flashing in both Harry and Varanian's eyes when they saw the other made him reconsider. _You're just going to have to hold on, Calderon,_ Scorpius thought to himself, it wasn't like Calderon had responded to conversation as a voice anyway… though he also hadn't vanished for so long before, "Just a little lost in my thoughts is all, I'm fine."

"Good to hear," Alaric Layton commented, striding towards the table, "Considering we all deemed this meeting important enough to be early for, I think it would be best if we jumped right into it."

Scorpius had not seen the Minister for a while but realized at his approach that they were now of equal height, though Alaric held himself in a confident way that somehow made him seem taller. He looked the part of Minister too, dressed smartly with dark brown hair cropped short and neat. Even the smile he cast him showed immaculate white teeth, though it didn't quite reach his navy eyes. He was the youngest there besides Scorpius himself though his lycanthropy helped hide that fact, though he was still handsome. Or he would've been without the bags beneath his eyes, while he had plenty of reason to lose sleep Scorpius thought he might've still been recovering from the last full moon.

"Agreed," Varanian offered immediately, his voice sounding harsh in comparison to the smooth politician.

"So I believe we all know each other," Hermione spoke up in a formal tone much like Alaric and Scorpius glanced back, seeing she now stood, "Minister for Magic Alaric Layton and Head Auror Harry Potter for the Ministry, Pip Varanian and Scorpius Malfoy for the vigilante group Gray as we work towards a formal alliance. Mrs Koray and I will be serving as neutral parties, I'll serve as mediator and she's handling the paperwork side of things. If everyone would like to take a seat."

At this she gestured toward the table as she walked around and took a seat at the head opposite Mrs Koray, who was still seated as she scribbled away on some blank parchment now. Scorpius sat back down and Alaric took the seat opposite him, Harry by the Minister's side. Varanian came over with extreme reluctance to sit back down beside him carefully, almost as if expecting the table to leap up and bite him. Probably not helped by the fact he was opposite Harry who wore a look of severe disapproval, he and Varanian were both sitting further back from the table then the rest of them.

"We're looking towards an alliance that benefits both sides which in turn benefits us all, we're on the same side against the Shadows at the end of the day," Hermione continued, her words spoken as if rehearsed, "We just need to iron out the specifics so is there anyone who would like to open the floor for what specifically you seek to gain from such a-"

"I want the children in your care returned to their parents," Harry shot out immediately and seriously, cutting Hermione off.

"No," Varanian said firmly before Scorpius could object himself, Harry looked taken aback by this and Scorpius would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised himself, "Most children in Gray have parents in Gray anyway and last time I tried returning children to their mother they ran away from her and travelled halfway across the country to get back, they were injured in the process and one almost had to have his leg amputated. I'm not sending another away so they can die getting back. They want to be with us they can, better our protection then fending for themselves."

"I want my children back!" Harry demanded angrily, silencing whatever Alaric had just opened his mouth to say.

"Your son is too injured to be moved-"

"As soon as he's better then!"

"Your daughter is constantly around plenty of people willing to apparate her, if she wanted to go back to you then she would have done so already," Varanian continued coldly, folding his arms, "It's not my fault if your children don't want to return to you."

"Why wouldn't they want to return to me?"

"Because you wouldn't let them go back to Gray?" Scorpius guessed what he expected was the truth, this seemed to anger Harry.

"Of course I wouldn't let them go back to Gray! They're children! They have no place in-"

"Harry-" Hermione said warningly.

"Harry, I think you're straying a _little_ of course here," Alaric interjected at the same time as Hermione did but seemed to cover whatever she'd been about to say as she went quiet, pouring herself some water instead, "We're making terms for an alliance not how to deal with your wayward children."

"It's not just my children!" Harry insisted while Hermione paused pouring to give him a warning look and he finally lowered his volume, "Holding kids against their parents' will is kidnapping which is _illegal_ and I think we should address it, it's not even beneficial to the war effort because they're too young to fight."

"Not everyone in Gray is a fighter," Varanian pointed out, truthfully, "Some people are just under our protection or related to other members."

"I think we can allow them to keep the kids in their care," Alaric decided and if looks could kill them Harry would've skewered him, "As long as reasonable effort was made to reunite them with their parent or guardians I don't see why not, being under the protection of Gray is better than being at risk out on their own."

"Fine."

"I can't believe you'd agree to that," Harry complained immediately, glaring angrily between Alaric and Varanian, "You all just can't understand what it's like being separated from your kids because you're not fath-"

"We agreed to make reasonable effort to reunite them," Scorpius interrupted quickly, sensing Varanian tensing beside him and fearing another outburst, "Can we move on?"

"Of course," Alaric agreed equally quickly and Scorpius caught his eye, wordlessly acknowledging they were both the designated peacekeepers in this debate. He glanced at Mrs Koray who was scribbling away with intense focus, Hermione was guzzling down water and looking nauseous again while Harry grumbled under his breath something about questioning what that even meant, "What's a condition that Gray are seeking?"

"I want a pardon for all members," Varanian shot out immediately and not unexpectedly, folding his arms, "I don't want them punished for following me, they deserve a clean slate and their lives back when all this is over."

"Fine."

"You're just going to agree to that?!" Harry shot out to which both Alaric and Hermione looked exasperated.

"Did you really expect them to _not_ ask for that? It's the most obvious thing. It'd make us look pretty stupid to turn around and punish the people who just helped us anyway."

"It should at least be limited to a pass for things related to the war effort."

"Is that acceptable?" Alaric asked, this time of Varanian.

"No, I want full pardons," Varanian insisted stubbornly, "Some people did bad things before switching sides, often forced to against their will by the Shadows and I want them to have a clean slate too, they deserve it."

"Full pardons it is then," Alaric agreed and Harry attempted eye-murder again, "I'll need a complete list of names when all of this is over so they can be officially granted reprieve and for what."

"Alright."

"What's something you want?" Scorpius offered, specifically to Alaric as it seemed his turn for something.

"Information," Alaric answered as swiftly and seriously as Varanian had for pardons, "We need to know what you know about the Shadows, most importantly are any names of spies within the Ministry you have identified. We don't stand much of a chance if they kill us from the inside."

"Give him the list," Varanian said to Scorpius and he obediently withdrew the list they'd written out earlier, sliding it across the table to an interested-looking Alaric who carefully picked it up with hungry eyes while Varanian continued. Even Harry begrudgingly gave it a glance, "Here are the names of everyone we know are Shadow spies, we've also briefly outlined the specifics of what we know about them- and that's yours to keep too, no matter what happens. Call it a token of good faith."

"Well that's much appreciated, thank you," Alaric admitted, sounding sincere and handed it to Harry who looked it over with interest instead of anger for the first time all conversation.

"I don't think we have them all but there's a spell I invented that detects the taint in Shadow wands, it's what causes the resistance to healing you've seen. Hermione knows the spell so if you do some kind of wand check you can probably weed out the ones we've missed, what gives them an edge in a fight also gives them away."

 _I don't understand_

"We'll work it out when we get back, new priority," Alaric said, more to Harry then anyone really and Scorpius shakily reached for the pitcher Hermione had brought over to pour himself some water. Calderon had picked a rather inconvenient time to start speaking again. Hopefully the meeting would be over soon…

"That's what I'd consider the most pressing information they have to present right now, it also establishes the kind of knowledge they have gleaned," Hermione spoke up formally again while Scorpius sipped on his freshly poured water, "We can divulge other information of importance at a later date, this meeting isn't about that."

"Agreed."

"And the information will of course go both ways," Harry added as an afterthought, seemingly trying to be more fair but Varanian actually scoffed at this.

"What information?" Varanian wondered almost mockingly, joyless amusement in his tone, "You don't know a thing."

"We know plenty!" Harry insisted, his cheeks going a little red.

"Rooke's been feeding you false information forever, anything you think you know is a lie. How can-"

"Look, I just said we can discuss the specifics of the information at a later date," Hermione interjected, this time giving the warning look to Varanian. He looked unfazed, "Let's move on. I believe it was your turn to ask for something.

"Resources," Varanian stated at once and threw a sharp look at Harry as if expecting him to object but he didn't, "The Ministry naturally has more than we ever could, a government entity simply has that advantage. Like right now medical resources are pretty important, for example we have a teen amputee who needs legs-"

"Not Albus?" Harry interjected with a sharp panicked intake of breath, his face draining of color as if a horrifying thought had just occurred to him. Varanian threw him a dark look, "M- My son, h- he's not the one- the one who-"

"No, not Albus," Varanian confirmed and a flicker of relief crossed the Head Auror's face, replaced immediately by guilt.

"Well we're certainly more than willing to provide medical assistance to injured youths," Alaric assured him smoothly as if there had been no interruption, "Resources is a broad definition however, I can give you that we'll always _try_ to accommodate your needs but it'll depend on the specifics of what you require whether we are willing or even capable of complying, our resources aren't infinite by any means after all and we can't compromise ourselves. It just has to be on a case to case basis, you understand?"

"I… suppose so," Varanian agreed slightly hesitantly, exchanging a brief look with Scorpius as he did so.

"We can work out the specifics of this at a later date," Hermione spoke up, "The details are too intricate and too subject to change to make part of the alliance agreement, much like the information it is best served to discuss this at a later date."

"Fine."

"Sounds fair," Alaric agreed and there was a brief pause as no one made to speak.

"Are there any other terms either party wishes to bring up?" Hermione inquired at the silence, glancing between them, "Excluding anything that fall under specific information exchange or resource acquisition which as previously expressed will be discussed at a later date."

"How about Lil-"

"Harry," Hermione cut the Head Auror off and Harry sighed heavily.

"How about agreement on a ceasefire then? I know it should really go without saying but even the most basic of points should be in this document," Harry said more calmly, a formal edge sharpening his tone which Scorpius was really beginning to see as the 'Ministry' tone. Or maybe simply politician tone would be more accurate, he was sure they probably talked like this all the time. At any rate, while he certainly understood the necessity it also made him very certain a Ministry career was not in any possible future of his, "Neither of us should ever deliberately target the other."

"Obviously," Varanian agreed, sounding like he was trying not to be annoyed with questionable results. He did not have a Ministry tone, "But if we're going to be stating the obvious, I'd like it down that we're not obligated to hand over prisoners into each other's custody."

"Of course, not like you'd have the resources to house a prisoner," Harry stated as if it were obvious to which Varanian gave a derisive snort.

"Do you have any prisoners?" Alaric questioned curiously, Varanian exchanged a look with Scorpius as if wondering whether he should tell them. Scorpius shrugged, seeing no reason not to when they were trying to build bridges with these people, "I'll take that as a yes."

"What prisoners could you possibly have?"

"Brutus," Varanian answered shortly, Alaric's eyes widened in visible surprise while Harry's jaw dropped, even Mrs Koray's quill scratching was temporarily quelled.

"Brutus? As in Brutus _Ashain_?"

"What other Brutus would I possibly be talking about?"

"Wha- Whe- _How?!_ " Harry spluttered out in shock and Varanian gave an irritated sigh, shrugging vaguely, "He's the Shadow Master's lieutenant, he's the highest ranked after her!"

"It's a strange and long story," Varanian brushed it off with a flick of his wrist, sounding very disinterested in discussing it, "Does it really matter?"

"I… Well I guess not… Wait, and you're seriously not willing to hand over such an important prisoner into the appropriate authority?"

"Yeah, if I wanted him to escape then I'd just release him myself," Varanian commented almost acridly and immediately Harry's face flushed scarlet.

"That _won't_ happen, our prison system is perfectly secure," the Head Auror insisted through teeth gritted in embarrassment, for some reason he also exchanged an odd look with Mrs Koray at this, "Anyone who says differently is being paranoid and any remaining Shadows who would threaten said security should be purged soon enough if your intelligence is to be believed, there's no reason not to have us hold on to such a valuable prisoner."

"The Shadow Master does have a habit of destroying prisons," Scorpius pointed out truthfully, trying to keep the discussion factual not personal.

"Then we can keep him in temporary holding!" Harry insisted, not sounding angry though just very sincere and determined to get his point across, "It's really not an issue, we have options and resources and the manpower to ensure he is secured. Past errors will not be repeated, its madness to throw away the factually better option in a situation that has never been direr and that's ignoring the fact from a legal perspective there shouldn't even be a debate. Aurors _are_ highly trained, in addition to security we know to handle interrogation-"

" _What?!_ " Varanian burst out incredulously and actually jolted upright, no doubt recalling his own 'interrogation' and Scorpius was sure something was going to blow up if they didn't change the subject, "Are you out of your-"

"Harry, I think Scorpius has a point," Hermione interjected diplomatically, probably also sensing this, "The Ministry has more security but that has a down side, it's so major with so many people it's hard to do anything undetected whereas a small group like Gray excels at this and they don't have the many other duties to divide their time between like we do."

"As long as Gray is sharing the information they obtain from the prisoner, I see no problem with it," Alaric offered in agreement and Harry gave an exasperated sigh, seemingly at being overruled again, "The less people know a secret the better, they've done fine securing the prisoner so far and if they need aid with interrogation later on the situation can change, the whole point of an alliance is to help each other after all."

"Of course," Scorpius agreed quickly, nodding in the hopes of moving away from this point.

"Brutus Ashain's imprisonment with Gray is now officially need-to-know information," Alaric added, more to the Ministry members. Presumably anyway, Gray already knew and all, "Is there anything else?"

"I want to have access to wherever Gray is located," Harry spoke up.

"No," Varanian answered swiftly and shortly, causing the Head Auror to scowl.

"Then I want to know where you are at least."

"No."

"We're _supposed_ to be compromising."

"And sharing that information compromises the safety of my people," Varanian insisted defensively, Harry shot a look at Alaric as if asking for help but the Minister was looking over the list of names again, "We don't know where all of your locations are either."

"Then we should exchange that information."

"No."

"Var-"

"It's like the Minister said, the less people know a secret the better," Varanian interrupted seriously, "You never know when the Shadows are going to capture someone of their own for interrogation…"

"I'm not saying everyone should know, just a few select people."

"A few select people _do_ know."

"Can I be one of those select people?"

"No."

"Is that everything?" Alaric asked while Harry heaved a heavy sigh, putting the list back down and Scorpius tried to think of anything they were forgetting that wouldn't fall into the exchange of resources or information categories.

"I think so."

"I guess so," Harry agreed more exasperatedly, making a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"Excellent," Hermione spoke up, cheerfulness injecting itself into her Ministry tone. Scorpius didn't blame her, he thought they were probably all keen for this meeting to be over with, "We'll take a short break while Mrs Koray and I go over the document to finalize it, formalizing it and making sure everything is accurate and in order. Its standard stuff so feel free to have a drink or take a walk, even use the restroom if you wish and we'll reconvene in a few minutes."

"I'm going to go stretch my legs then," Varanian said shortly, already getting up as he spoke.

"I'll go with him," Scorpius added, following quickly as he wasn't particularly eager to be alone with all those people.

Scorpius left the tent after Varanian and found himself once again embraced by the warmth of the beaming sun, it was strangely yet pleasantly surprising to him. He supposed it just felt like they'd been in there so long he expected it to be much later, the days were longer though as it was summer so it could just be later and not dark yet. He turned his gaze back to earth to find Varanian, seeing the metamorphmagi was pacing around near the tent, his gruff visage was rather out of place set against the pleasant scenery.

"It's good to be out of there," Varanian commented without halting his pacing, shuddering despite the sunlight and wringing his hands, "Reminds me how much I hate these kinds of things."

"You okay?" Scorpius wondered.

"I'm fine," Varanian answered very quickly, still pacing as he flexed his fingers.

"Are you sure?" Scorpius reiterated and Varanian hesitated for a minute.

"I'm just… a little on edge, I feel like spiders are crawling all over my skin... But its fine, I mean try sitting across from someone who tortured _you_ with the Cruciatus Curse and _not_ feel on edge."

"Ah don't worry, Pippy, it's not like he'd do anything," Scorpius said without thinking and Varanian immediately froze, Scorpius did the same despite not having even been moving. He had no why he'd just said that.

"Did… Did you just call me 'Pippy'?"

"No…" Scorpius lied, unnerved by his own words. There was also only one person he'd ever heard call him that… "I just said 'Pip.' I mean, that's what you prefer to be called right?"

"Well yeah but that's not what it _sounded_ like, I could've sworn you said-"

"Well it's not, I know what I said and I know what your name is," Scorpius insisted and despite feeling kind of guilty for it added, "Why would I even say that? You just said you're on edge, maybe you're mishearing."

"I guess so, maybe..." Varanian muttered, only scowling more in confusion and Scorpius thought it was best to just get off the subject.

"Look, my point was just that there's nothing to worry about for so many reasons, for all we know he could feel bad."

"He hasn't even apologized!" Varanian pointed out, seeming to thankfully move on.

"I guess not but he wouldn't be here if he didn't want an alliance, right? And his boss is totally on our side anyway."

"I noticed, it's not hard to be on our side with how Potter's acting though," Varanian stated as he started pacing again, his expression switching to disgust, "I mean did you notice how he reacted to the prosthetic legs issue? As if it only matters if _his_ son is the one who needs help, his other son is the one who tortured that poor kid!"

"I don't think that was what he meant but okay," Scorpius disagreed quietly, he thought he was being a little harsh on Harry but not enough to bother arguing the point, "The important thing is we gave them the list of spies like you wanted, it's nearly done."

"I know, just need to sign the paperwork to finish unloading my soul and hope they don't fuck up dealing with those spies," Varanian said acridly before halting suddenly, folding his arms and scowling darkly beyond Scorpius. He turned and saw Potter had emerged from the tent, "What do you want?"

"Just some fresh air," Harry answered defensively, seemingly taken aback by the hostile tone, "It's a nice day."

"Real nice," Scorpius spoke up to try keep things pleasant as Harry crossed his arms, Varanian seemed content to glower silently, "So how long does this finalizing the documents usually take?"

"Well this tedious bureaucracy stuff can take a while but in this case I suspect not that much longer."

"I'll go see how it's going," Varanian decided, heading back inside the tent which Harry didn't object to but watched him go intently. Scorpius debated whether or not to follow.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Harry commented and Scorpius immediately found himself regretting his hesitation, he didn't really want to have a conversation with Harry right now. The Head Auror was notably more at ease with Varanian gone, Scorpius noticed, as he stood more casually, "Would have thought there were other… _older_ members of Gray to come instead."

"I'm of age," Scorpius shot out defensively, sensing that wasn't helpful though he added, "Besides, there have been some deaths recently."

"That's true," Harry mused sadly, probably thinking more generally then Gray, "So what do your parents think of this?"

"I haven't asked them," Scorpius shrugged it off but Harry's famously emerald eyes widened in surprise.

"You have _told_ them, ri-"

"Look, I'll get around to it," Scorpius cut him off, feeling rather annoyed and kind of fed up having this conversation with people, "I have plans to see them soon."

"It's been a month since Hogwarts fell, you father must be worried sick."

"I'm sure my father will be fine."

"You know Draco is your father, right? Not Var-"

"I know!" Scorpius shrieked irritably, why did people keep bringing up this father thing? "I just said I'll see them, there's kind of a lot going on in this war right now if you hadn't noticed."

"And you should be with your family not dragged along into war by Varanian," Harry insisted determinedly, "While useful, he's not a very stable individual and you'd be better off safe home."

"Maybe if you didn't torture people with the Cruciatus Curse they would be more stable," Scorpius shot out, stalking back inside without bothering to spare a glance to Harry. He almost bumped into Alaric as he reentered the tent, "Sorry."

"It's alright," Alaric brushed it aside, "I was just coming to get you two, and we're ready with the treaty."

"Well Harry's outside," Scorpius offered, not in a hurry to speak to the Boy Who Lived anymore and went to rejoin the table to avoid the task. He slid back in beside Varanian, the metamorphmagi was reading from a roll of parchment, "So what's happening?"

"We're reading through this to make sure we're satisfied with the terms of the arrangement," Varanian answered for him, his mismatched eyes still skimming the rows of neat little letters, "Then we all sign it."

"All of us?"

"All of us," Hermione provided for him, "Alaric and Varanian are the ones entering their factions into a binding agreement so they sign first, you and Harry then sign as witnesses. Mrs Koray and I have already signed it, essentially proving the legal validity of the document."

"Sounds complicated."

"Well I apologize, I was trying to simplify it for you."

"Just read it," Varanian offered, sliding the parchment close to him as he reached the end, "It's basically what we talked about just written coherently and with fancier language, its fine."

Scorpius turned to the document, reading through as instructed and finding this to be accurate. It seemed to be anyway, he wasn't very sure what he was looking for and a lot of the jargon seemed unnecessarily complex to the point of almost going over his head. He thought reading it was akin to pouring milk over his brain, some got in the cracks but mostly it just washed all over him but he supposed that was how these things were. At the very least the quiet moment allowed him to calm down from everything that had happened outside, he also made a mental note to add Rojer to his ever-growing list of people he needed to talk to. This alliance should help with that, they'd know his address.

Harry had rejoined them and everyone was seated again by the time he finished reading, the bottom was a lot of spaces for people to sign with impressively miniscule captions. He passed it off for the other side to read, having no real complaints not that he got the point of having to read it anyway. Not that he was going to question it with how patronizing Harry had been outside.

"I have no complaints with it," Alaric commented when he had finished going over it.

"I do," Harry grumbled, probably still displeased over how dismissive people had been to his wishes, "But its fine, its serviceable."

"Excellent."

Alaric wasted no time in reaching for the quill which had been moved more centrally now Mrs Koray was sipping water instead of scribbling, the Minister signed it and offered the quill wordlessly to Varanian. Varanian took the quill very slowly and reluctantly, almost as if he expected the thing to suddenly jump up and bite him. It didn't, Hermione did point to where he had to sign though. He gave one last sigh before cautiously writing his name down in the allocated space, the name being 'Pip Varanian' Scorpius couldn't help but notice, not Philip or P and definitely not Pippy.

"It doesn't matter which line you two sign it as or who goes first," Hermione offered as Scorpius was taking the quill from Varanian, somehow he didn't think he'd want Harry to take it from him.

He signed his name, feeling the virgin signature was somewhat out of place compared to these big names. Especially when put next to Harry Potter, the Head Auror adding his name last very readily. Whatever issues they may have, it was still a name of unparalleled fame and universal respect. And just like that, Gray was officially in an alliance with the Ministry of Magic.


	18. IIX: Catching Up

_**Thanks to:** Cal, Judal Hiwatari, Colin Creevey, Vyxien, SeveraSnape6 and Guest for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _What do Al and Lily think about Harry (and his actions)?_**  
 _Albus is more forgiving, he thinks Harry is a good guy doing his best but has still made some terrible mistakes and poor choices trying to do that, he's tried to convince him of things in the past to no success so is happy Harry agreed to the alliance and is hopeful he's moving in the right direction, he's also sympathetic considering Ginny's death. Lily is less forgiving, she finds how he treats her patronizing so as a result doesn't really like him much so is more critical of his actions, she blames him for a lot of things including Ginny's death and while glad he made the alliance it doesn't change her overall negative opinion, she thinks he's too stubborn to change his mind and sees no point trying  
_

 ** _So the key to the Rippers journal is Varanians blood?_**  
 _Maybe_

 ** _If Harry caused an end to the alliance by- say- dueling with Varanian and it's totally all Harry's fault, what would Alaric do if he's unwilling to fire him?_**  
 _Alaric would come down hard on him and arrest him for the attack, he'd have to as he'd need to use it to send a message to Varanian that they condemn Harry's actions in the hope of rekindling the alliance. He values the alliance more then Harry right now and as they have a way to root out the spies he at least knows who isn't a Shadow now, he'd feel like he doesn't have a choice even it's very not ideal_

 ** _What's the deal here (Scorpius and his family)? Would he prefer it if his family were all murdered?_**  
 _Scorpius hasn't stopped caring about his family, he just expects an argument so he subconsciously keeps putting it off_

* * *

"Well at least that's over with," Varanian commented after apparating them back to Hogan's place, breathing out a sigh of relief, "With any luck they'll deal with those spies soon, it'll be interesting to see how the Shadows respond if at all."

"Yeah," Scorpius found himself agreeing with both sentiments.

"I want to go work on some stuff and you should really consider working on your apparation at some point, it's an essential skill."

"I will," Scorpius agreed, feeling his teeth bare and his face burn at the thought of setting aside some time to fail repeatedly at the most basic of magical tasks. He was sure he saw Varanian nod in acknowledgement out of the corner of his eye but he couldn't bring himself to so much as look at him, in the next second Varanian popped out of existence and he was alone, "Calderon? Calderon can you hear me? I can talk to now, the meeting is over."

Silence.

Scorpius sighed, just his luck. He gave it a bit more time, attempting a few more times to speak to his cousin but was met with nothing. Somehow he wasn't surprised, he didn't think he'd ever managed to successfully speak to Calderon and still wasn't even sure if he could or not. Finally he conceded defeat and went back into Hogan's home.

"-theoretically I suppose you can but I also see no reason to rush," Hogan was saying to Molly as he went inside, the old healer heading upstairs as he spoke while Molly remained at the bottom, "And bring someone with you!"

"What's that about?" Scorpius asked of her, feeling a little concerned and he could've sworn she scowled briefly.

"I wanted to visit my grandparents' house," Molly admitted, stepping towards him and folding her arms, "Flan said I should run it by Hogan so I did."

"You want to go to the Burrow?" Scorpius wondered, confused why Hogan would want her to bring someone for that. He'd also been under the impression she wasn't up to facing her family yet.

"No, I mean my _other_ grandparents' house."

"Um… Aren't they dead?" Scorpius inquired in confusion, her other grandparents were Roman's parents and he was pretty sure they were very long dead.

"Yes, that's why I said visit their house not visit them," Molly pointed out as if it was obvious, "Roman mentioned a while ago Magnus might've left something there for me, I think it could be important. My grandfather was a Seer too, remember?"

"I remember, I just also remember he died when Roman was a child so I'm not sure how useful anything could be," Scorpius said, worrying he sounded harsher then he meant to and maybe this was more of a sentimental thing he should maybe be supportive of, "I mean, if you think it's worth it then we should still go but Voldemort was still the issue of his time. I can go with you if you like, maybe when you've recovered a bit more."

"No, don't worry about it," Molly brushed it aside and started to head into the front room, Scorpius hastily following, "Anyway, how did the meeting go?"

* * *

 _"... following the most recent Shadow attack on Coventry, the Ministry has released a more positive statement…"_

The blaring voice of the anchorwoman coming from the large flat screen television stuck to the wall was surprisingly cut off, a loud woman's wail in reality slicing through the compressed audio. Austin Latimer's dusty-haired head swiveled along with the majority of the people standing around in the waiting room to watch the broadcast, he caught a brief glimpse of a blond woman rushing out of the room before turning his tired gaze back to the screen as the newswoman recaptured his interest.

 _"… thanks to information from Gray, we have managed to arrest over two dozen suspected Shadow spies…"_

"Sure you have," Austin scoffed disbelievingly, shaking his head and finally turning away from the screen.

Austin sipped the last of his bland coffee as he strolled away, tossing the paper cup in the trash as he passed it by and shoving his hands into his hoodie. It was hard not to feel like the Ministry were just lying about getting help from Gray to make themselves look more competent, it was certainly _possible_ the direness of the situation had pushed them to put aside their differences and work together – especially with Hermione advocating such a thing – but he wasn't willing to stake their lives on it.

He walked through the sterile halls back to the equal sterile NICU ward, the neonatal intensive care unit for babies which he had become intimately familiar with the past month. The walls were lined with cribs sealed in a transparent kind of box and typical muggle hospital machinery, thrums and beeps were a constant backdrop that he hoped wouldn't drive the babies mad because it sure as hell drove him mad. There were also curtains in between each set that could be closed for privacy - rather drab shit colored ones at that – and comfortable armchairs by each one.

The place had actually been rather empty, or empty of patients anyway because the staff obviously were there and were bustling in and out frequently. He supposed that was good as it meant less sickly babies, there was a new one that had been born a few days ago but before that it had been a few weeks since the last occupant had gotten to go home. The new baby was actually closest to the door and he was surprised to see the mother – at least he assumed she was the mother – sitting beside it, not because she was there but because she was crying. He was pretty sure she was the woman he'd seen leave the broadcast in tears, maybe she had relatives there? That thought made his heart pang painfully.

As tempted as he was to console her, he just kept walking. There was a reason Annie and Varanian's kid was in the furthest corner to be as far away from everyone else as possible, keeping to themselves was safer considering the Shadow risk and keeping this baby safe was his priority right now. He returned to the child and settled himself back into the armchair that had become his home, naturally the infant was winging unhappily.

"What's up, Thorny?" Austin wondered of his charge.

The baby was still incredibly small, as if someone had just wrung out a normal one, leaving it wrinkled and lacking any meat on its poor little bones. The name tag reading 'baby boy Thorne' wrapped around his ankle was half the size of his leg, he also had a bunch of wires hooked into him including a tube on his face to help him breathe and obviously had a diaper, also a hat. What he looked like outside of that varied from moment to moment, the young metamorphmagi was rather like a chameleon and often took on features – particularly colors - of whoever was around him. Though he still cycled through looks at random by himself, he didn't seem able to stay as one for very long. His health was pretty poor, he needed help to keep warm – that's what the box did – and to breathe, he also couldn't swallow so he was fed via tubes as well. All things he needed to do to leave the hospital, and live, but also all things that really only came with time and a month wasn't enough.

Despite his health issues, 'baby boy Thorne' had a surprising amount of personality for a newborn which Austin hoped was a good sign and the staff had noted was very unusual. When Lat was born all he ever seemed to do – aside from sleep – was cry and poop, not this kid though. This kid hated staying still, he hated his hospital equipment and he hated hats. Austin knew this because he was always wriggling or squirming, currently the kid had half-managed to roll onto his side leaving him at a weird angle. He'd try to move his head away if you were attempting to put a hat on him and try to remove it once on, he was also always trying to pull off the wires keeping him alive. He'd even used his metamorphmagi ability to this end, shrinking his head slightly so his weak uncoordinated arms were able to dislodge the hat or altering his body to make the wires detach. The latter was particularly inconvenient as they were keeping him alive, thankfully they'd always been able to fix it in time.

"Did you miss me?" Austin asked, reaching through one of the circular holes in the box to take the baby's hand – or arm, his hand dwarfed the little guy's – which had been trying to claw at the breathing tube, "Huh, Thorny?"

The baby stopped to glance in his general direction, eyes taking on the same reddish brown as his own. He didn't have a name yet - Austin thought it would be rude to name someone else's child – and they'd wrote Annie's last name on the tag as it seemed safer considering Varanian was well known as the leader of Gray so he'd made a nickname for that. Not that it really mattered, the kid couldn't understand a word he was saying but babies still liked being talked at and he liked coherent sentences.

"Your Daddy was mentioned on the news today, pretty cool huh?" Austin continued and tapped at the photograph he put in the box, the one of Varanian and Annie. He thought it was good for him to see his parents – he often took on appearance from them as well, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the picture or genetics or what – and with any luck, he may recognize Varanian to some degree whenever he got to see him, "Do you remember your Daddy? Are you going to see him soon?"

The kid winged again, flailing his free arm in the general direction of the photograph – though Austin was sure that was just because he tapped it – and trying to move the other which was trapped under him. Austin sighed and repositioned him on his back so it was arms were free, making sure the wires weren't tangled. He also checked on that rock Annie had given him, after nearly losing it several times he'd also opted to put it in the crib – staff assured him it was fine – for safekeeping. It was safer then losing it surely because he was sure he would otherwise.

"Is that better? See how much better it is when you don't screw it up?" Austin wondered as the kid began waving both his arms aimlessly and kicking out his legs happily, he felt another pang of sorrow, of course it wouldn't be long before he tired himself out and fell back asleep, "It's okay though, Thorny, we all screw things up sometimes. Some of us more than others- I'm pretty great at myself, hopefully you won't be but you're a baby so you get a pass. Enjoy infancy while it lasts, it's the only time in our lives where we can do whatever the fuck we want without consequences."

The baby slowed down in his movements, instead starting to wriggle and whine again. Austin reached back out, caressing his head gently with his thumb and the kid tried to grab his hand, his hand being half the size of his whole body. Lat had never been quite that small, he'd been cuter though but Austin acknowledged he may be a tad bit biased there. Slowly he felt the kid start to relax, it was a poor substitute for cuddles but it was the best he could do since he mostly needed the incubator.

"Not that there's much to enjoy being all not well but that's life, she's a bitch like that," Austin continued saying words the child couldn't understand as the metamorphmagi's eyes flickered purple as they began to close, he moved his hand away sadly, "I was in hospitals with Lat all the time too, he was sick a lot with Dragon Pox growing up after… um… after the accident. Used to sit by his side, kinda like this, barely able to touch him, kinda like this, while he drifted in and out of consciousness, kinda like this… you have a lot in common if you really think about it."

Austin watched as his charge's body slumped slightly, tension leaving him as the baby succumbed to slumber once more. He watched his tiny chest rising and falling, breathing peacefully thanks to the wires the little guy so despised.

"I think you'd really like him if you got to know him, thankfully he wound more like his amazing mother and less like his loser father. I… I'm proud of him, it'd be nice if you got to meet him," Austin said more quietly now that the kid was asleep, putting his feet up and leaning back though it didn't ease the anxiety welling back up inside him, "Considering he should be with your dad and all, I _hope_ you meet him. I don't even want to think about what it'd mean if you don't…"

* * *

Scorpius spent the rest of the evening at Hogan's, mostly talking about the events of alliance because it stupidly didn't occur to him that the others besides Molly – who he was glad to see still talking to him - would also ask how it went and then not making sure everyone was there so he wouldn't have to explain it multiple times. Varanian only returned much later and Scorpius insisted he have some left overs before bed, he was gone by the time he woke up though as Scorpius slept much better without having to put up with Hogan counting half the night. He didn't hear anything further from Calderon, on one hand he felt bad but on another he was glad as he was eager to finally fulfil his plans to speak to Brutus without further interruption.

"Are you ready to go, Ephraim?" Scorpius asked of the nervous werewolf who would be his ride after they finished cleaning up after breakfast, the taller man started bobbing his head up and down readily, "Great then, let's go."

"O- Okay," Lamb agreed and followed him as Scorpius led him outside, he still looked anxious.

"You okay?"

"Y- Yeah, its just- just I knew people in Coventry, m- makes me worry for my dau- daughter. Li- Like if- if some place I know gets at- attacked then may- maybe her home is next."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Scorpius tried to reassure him, recalling his daughter lived in a small town, "She's going after cities anyway and on the off chance your daughter's home _is_ attacked then we'll just go save her."

"R- Really?" Lamb wondered, ogling him hopefully.

"Of course!"

"O- Okay then," Lamb said, his head bobbing again but this seemed to quell his fears right now, "S- So you wanted to- to go to the Em- Embry's first, right?"

"Yes, just briefly to check on my friends and then the base," Scorpius reiterated, holding out his arm for Lamb to take and the taller man took his hand.

In the next instant, Scorpius found his body being compressed through space in a way he consistently failed to manage on his own. They popped back into existence outside the quaint muggle home and Scorpius wasted no time moving forwards, he knocked and was greeted by Hermione of all people who readily stepped aside to allow them entrance.

"Morning," Scorpius offered politely.

"Morning," Hermione greeted him in equal tone as they entered, she closed the door behind him, "I was meaning to talk to you actually."

"You were?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, his heart sinking at the thought of something _else_ getting in the way.

"Yes, I don't suppose you know where Varani-"

"Nope. He said he was working on something, was gone before I woke up."

"Well then this information falls to you, you remember one of the terms is that we must make reasonable effort to reunite kids with their legal guardians?"

"I remember…" Scorpius admitted, wondering where this was going as Hermione's tone switched to the same formal one she'd used for the meeting.

"Well having looked at the number of minors within Gray, there's only three who either don't have their parent or guardian's permission to be here or reasonable effort hasn't been made to reunite them: Lily, Martha Seneca and Sebastian Libra. Lily I've taken care of – she'll be coming home with Al when he's recovered, they can at least speak to their dad – and Martha we can get away with, her biological mother resided in Hogsmeade so is out of reach or deceased and all other known family members are deceased or Shadows so there's nothing we can reasonably do to reunite them. This leaves Sebastian."

"Um… isn't he basically in the same situation as Martha?"

"Not exactly, while most of his immediate relatives are deceased or imprisoned he _does_ actually have living relatives. They rejected him before so probably will again but it doesn't matter if they say no, it just matters that we ask so you need to deal with that."

"Right…" Scorpius muttered, about to question why him but he supposed she had just asked him where Varanian was and he didn't know, "So do I have to do this right _now_ or can this-"

"It can wait but the sooner we get it over with the better, I still need to get the addresses anyway."

"Well when you get them to me I'll get on it," Scorpius offered and she nodded as something else occurred to him, there was someone he really wanted to speak to in regards to soul and blood of all things, "Can you get the address of anyone?"

"Why? Did you have someone in mind?" Hermione inquired, seemingly catching on pretty quick.

"My Alchemy teacher, Rojer Voltur."

"Well theoretically I can look into it, depends if he has a registered address in this country."

"Okay, thank you," Scorpius nodded in understanding, "Is there anything else?"

"Good news actually," Hermione told him, a faint smile teasing the corners of her lips and reminding him sadly of Rose, "I don't know if you've heard- or if Varanian would have – but the Ministry acted on the list of names. We did a sweep of all named Shadows yesterday and enforced a mandatory wand test to clear out the rest, we'll be doing a sweep of everyone in the Ministry shelters as well today and changing the rules to rest the wands of those entering to ensure none get in."

"Wow, th- tha- that was fast!" Lamb spoke up in surprise, his brown eyes bulging.

"That's the point, act swiftly before they can catch on."

"Well that's great, good job," Scorpius offered with a smile of encouragement though internally his heart sank a little, it seemed so simple. How different would things have been if the Ministry had been with them from the start?

"I'll make sure to keep you apprised of any further developments, just remember to pass the information on to Varanian if you see him before I do."

"Will do," Scorpius assured her and she briefly nodded in acknowledgement before hurrying away.

Scorpius moved away, heading on into the still rather full hospital room but it was looking at least a bit livelier then last time he'd been in there. Sebastian, Wyatt, Albus and Byron were all visibly consciously, sitting up and engaging in conversation with those around them, Scorpius thought being more alert was probably a good sign for their respective recoveries though Professor Koray, Marigold – who was being attended by Michael - and Antonius still seemed unconscious. In addition to the patients it was still bustling, friends and family hanging around the people they cared for or maybe even acquaintances just trying to be nice to those who had no one, as well as obviously those tending to the injured of course. It wasn't loud though, conversations seeming quiet and contained out of respect for the others sharing the room.

"Hey Scor!" Albus called out to him immediately so Scorpius made his way over to him first, moving past Wyatt and Antonius. Antonius' dog was stretched out on her master's bed snoozing loudly and Cassia sitting beside him, currently beating a befuddled Wyatt at muggle chess on other side, "How's it go-"

"Don't strain yourself," Abby interjected, sitting loyally by her friend's side and scowling as Albus awkwardly tried to sit up straighter which seemed to strain him. He gave up at her word though, letting himself fall back and groaning.

"Sitting is hard when the part of you that needs to bend is the hurt part."

"How are you doing?" Scorpius asked of his friend.

"Alright, it's hard to complain when other people have it worse," Albus pointed out, his emerald eyes drifting to the others – especially the ashen Marigold - sympathetically, "Hogan says I'm through the worst of it, hopefully I can go home before the end of the summer."

"You want to go home?" Scorpius wondered in surprise that Abby seemed to share, he hadn't expected him to be eager to go home considering Lily's reluctance let alone to want to quit Gray.

"Just for a little while, don't think I want to quit Gray or anything," Albus amended quickly and they both relaxed, "After all of the loss we need to stick together, I can't wait to see them. I mean I haven't spent enough time with Freddie's little kids, Uncle George just lost the shop he founded with his twin, Uncle Bill only has Victoire left and poor Gran must be so heartbroken, no one expects to outlive their kids let alone their grandkids and Mum was her only daughter! And Dad… I mean things have been rocky with him but he must be so hurt right now, Mum was the love of his life…"

"Oh Al…" Abby said, gazing at him lovingly as he started to get choked up. She reached out and took his hand gently, giving it a comforting squeeze, "You're a good man."

"I th- think it's what she'd want," Albus pointed out, wiping at his eyes – dislodging Abby's hand in the process, she looked saddened - and taking a breath to calm himself, "You guys should see your families too, you never know how long you have. And your fiancé, Abby, Sequoia must be worried too."

"I know, I will," Abby insisted unenthusiastically, "Why don't I refill your water?"

"Um… Okay…?" Albus started to say in confusion as Abby left with the glass – which still had a good third left – off the bedside table instead of using the spell she was perfectly capable of doing, Albus sighed.

"You sure you're okay?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, I'm keeping it together, it's what she'd want and I need to be strong right now. I try to keep my mind off it anyway," Albus told him before nodding in the direction of Professor Koray in the bed beside him, "Do you know he's woken up three times now? Each time he startles awake freaked out of his mind, looking around frantically though he can't move much. You should see the way he looks at me, for a second I'm sure he thinks I'm James and he looks _terrified_. I tell him to calm down, it's okay, he's safe, I'm _Albus_ and he relaxes a little then asks about his kids, I tell him they're with their mum and they're safe. He looks relieved, starts to nod and is asleep again before his head hits the pillow, he's so out of it he doesn't even remember for next time."

"Poor guy," Scorpius offered sympathetically as something occurred to him, "Has Antonius woken up?"

"Briefly, last night. Their infections are clearing so they're starting to ween off the sedation, that's why they're starting to wake. Antonius should wake up properly first, Michael said."

"That's great," Scorpius smiled in relief, sparing a glance for the unconscious Antonius.

"Yeah and they saved his leg so he should be happy, poor kid could use some good news. Hogan's mad about it though."

"Hogan's always mad about everything," Scorpius dismissed it and Albus did give a conceding nod while he spared a glance for Antonius. Cassia was still playing muggle chess with Wyatt beside him, Wyatt was either letting her win or really sucked at chess. Sebastian was in the bed opposite, Hugo was sitting talking to him. Scorpius thought he'd bring up trying to return him to his family later, hopefully he'd still be around because he thought it was good Antonius would have his roommate around.

"True, makes me miss Marigold," Albus admitted, drawing Scorpius back to their conversation, "Hopefully he'll be awake by the time I leave, it'll be cool having another trained Healer on our side too. I'm not a Seer like Molly but I reckon we'll need them."

 _So do I_

* * *

"WAKE UP! BREAKFAST!"

Orous Knox jolted awake at the sound of his twin brother yelling through the door, each word punctuated by a bang on said door. He resisted the urge to groan at the rude awakening, it wasn't his favorite way to wake up anyway and on this particular occasion he had gotten little sleep in the first place. He felt as if he'd only just closed his eyes, the sunlight trying to fight its way in through the blinds wasn't that much stronger than it had been when he'd last seen. His partner didn't show the same restraint.

"Why does your brother hate sleep?" his long-time girlfriend, Lily Luna Potter, complained from beside him in the middle of a yawn.

He was feeling more awake instantly, becoming very aware of her very naked body still nestled against his own – there wasn't much choice with his single bed - beneath the covers. He turned his head to look at her, seeing on his shoulder scarlet strands spiraling across his frosted white flesh. She was without her ovular for once though the eyes he knew to be a welcoming shade of brown were closed, regardless he found himself smiling as he wrapped his arm around her to hold her closer.

He found her presence comforting, the warmth from her bodying pressing against his own and the closeness he felt to her right now was unmatched by anything else he'd ever experienced. He felt like they could lie there with her forever, nothing could hurt them here. She smiled.

"I don't know," Orous answered, realizing she might still be waiting on an answer. He sighed, idly caressing her soft shoulder as he looked back up at the much blander ceiling, "We should probably get up though."

"Do we have to?"

"Well if I _don't_ get up when he calls he usually comes back in five minutes and barges in instead because he assumes I couldn't hear him so…"

"Ah, we should probably get up then because that wouldn't be so good," Lily agreed and he glanced back to her as she opened her eyes, struggling with another yawn, "Don't suppose you know where my glasses are? Unfortunately I still have my dad's crummy eyesight."

"Err… here," Orous said as he spotted them on the bedside table on Lily's right, having to reach all the way across her with his other arm to pick them up which rolled her over and put him on top of her again. She giggled as he handed them to her, putting them back on immediately to gaze up at him with a gorgeous grin he returned, "Morning."

"Morning," Lily returned the greeting, placing her delicate fingers on his chest as he leaned down to kiss her. And kiss her again as she moved her hands across his body, lacing them through his snowy white hair. _You have to get up_ , his mind reminded him, "Do you think we have time to…?"

"No, we have to get up," Orous reminded her as she gently pulled his head closer so she could kiss him again, "Maurice, remember?"

"Ugh, goddammit Maurice!" Lily groaned and finally let go of him, he rolled off her and got out of bed before he could let himself get sucked back into the moment.

Instead he made himself think of awkward Maurice barging in would be as he looked around his room, the white walls decorated mostly with Hufflepuff paraphernalia and an overall dark wood theme to the furniture. It had the typical chest of drawers for his clothes and a desk wedged in the corner, a mixture of muggle and magical supplies resting on it along with some photographs of his family and friends. His bed was far from them in a kind of odd position as the bedside table – which also sported a small lava lamp, he found it comforting to watch when he couldn't sleep - was on Lily's side near the wall, he'd needed space when he was recovering from a spinal injury and while they'd removed the thankfully now unnecessary equipment they hadn't gotten around to rearranging the furniture yet.

Normally it was fairly neat and orderly but today it had clothes strewn haphazardly all across the thick navy carpet, he began rummaging through them for his attire. Since he was going to need a shower anyway, he figured yesterday's clothes would do for breakfast and Lily only had yesterday's clothes which were also jumbled down there with his own. He glanced back to her to ask if he wanted her to pass her some of her stuff but found she was still lying in bed, just ogling him.

"Are- Are you just watching me get dressed?" he questioned of her.

"Uh-huh, you're _really_ fit," Lily confirmed with a nod and he felt his face flush, she giggled at this and he threw her t-shirt at her to block her view, "Hey!"

"We need to get up!"

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled as he started throwing more of her stuff to her before going back to quickly pulling his own clothing on, despite the summer weather his albinism compelling him to keep himself as covered as possible because he burned too quickly and he'd probably be outside training, "So do I get to have breakfast or do you want me to just sneak out and apparate?"

"You can apparate?" Orous wondered in surprise as he pulled on yesterday's shirt, he knew she hadn't been learning very long.

"Yep," Lily confirmed brightly as he glanced at her, seeing to his disappointed relief she'd put on the t-shirt and was now sitting up rifling through the clothing he'd given to her. Her red hair was even messier than usual, it only came down to her chin, "I can actually do stuff when I put my mind to it and you know I always wanted to apparate, was easier than I thought actually but Scorpius makes it seem hard. Don't tell anyone though."

"Why?"

"I'd just rather most people still think I can't, it's easier when people don't expect anything from you," Lily shrugged, "I mean, you heard what Aunt Hermione said about having to go home to my dad, you know the guy who still thinks I'm fucking five. It'll be easier to get away if he doesn't think I can apparate, I've done more to stop this war then he has and I'm not backing down now."

"Okay," Orous agreed as he went back to getting dressed, wanting to support his girlfriend though he found it hard to relate to her situation considering he had a good relationship with both his fathers, both supported him being Gray and were Gray themselves anyway. He was distracted again as Lily burst out laughing, "What?"

"I just thought how badly my dad would lose his shit if he could see me right now!"

"Right…" Orous muttered, not finding imaging Harry Potter's reaction to learning his daughter had just lost her virginity as pleasantly as Lily seemed to. He finished getting dressed and turned his attention back to Lily who seemed to have made no progress, she was holding her panties and scowling at the pile of clothes beside her.

"Shoot, forgot to my bra back on first."

"Well why don't you do that and I'll go down so you won't be interrupted," Orous suggested as he approached her, she glanced at him, "I'll save you a seat, if anyone asks I'll just say I picked you for breakfast."

"Okay," Lily agreed and he leaned in to kiss her goodbye, the kiss lingering as she kissed him passionately back and he had to put his hands on the bed to stop himself falling. Her bare thigh brushed against his hand, he ran his fingers over the supple flesh instead and started to wonder if Maurice would still barge in if he magically locked the door… Lily pulled away though, snapping him from such thoughts as he instead gazed into her eyes, "You were going, remember?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," Lily confirmed as he stepped back, reluctantly making his way over to the door and sparing her one last long lingering look before exiting the room.

He closed the door shut behind him and leaned back against it, taking a deep breath. Not sure why he found it so irrationally hard to tear himself away from her, he'd seen her in a minute after all and they saw each other plenty each day – even more then they had in Hogwarts - anyway. He'd resigned himself to death in order to avenge Vern, his best friend who had been murdered by James, killing his mother had almost destroyed his damaged soul and taking another life was likely to finish him off. He was fine with his decision, of course, but it left him with the feeling that any moment with her could be the last. Though he supposed if this was the last, it was a nice last to have. The thought comforted him and he smiled, pushing off the door to head downstairs.

"Hey Orous!" a voice called and he found himself intercepted by Tabitha Morse, his dad's Healer girlfriend who lived with them now. She was nice enough he supposed, "Can I um… Can I talk to you real quick?"

"Um… Sure," Orous agreed, seeing no reason not to and she was kind of in his way anyway.

"I just wondered if you know how to do the Silencing Charm?" Tabitha asked rather randomly, looking oddly uncomfortable though her tone was friendly and folded her arms awkwardly.

"Why, yes, I can."

"Then I suggest you use it, you know, the next time you have your girlfriend stay the night…" Tabitha said and Orous felt his face burn more fiercely then he ever had before in his life, he was sure he was as red as his eyes and found said eyes suddenly drawn to a rather uninteresting spot on the ground. He wondered if would open up and swallow him in his embarrassment.

"Were… Were we really that loud?" Orous managed to utter, his voice little more than a pitiful squeak.

"Well I put one up for you this time, I'm just giving you for next time," Tabitha said, sounding more confident now, "Are you aware of the contraceptive-"

"Yes!" Orous interjected in a panicked shriek, fresh flames flooding his face. He was sure he was on fire and he only fund capable of communicating through gritted teeth, "We wouldn't have done it if we weren't careful… we're not stupid…"

"That's good, it's important to do these things safely I don't think Hogwarts does a good job communicating these things to students and there's plenty of options available."

"Um-hum," Orous nodded in case she didn't understand the unintelligible sound though he couldn't look up, from the formal tone it occurred to him as a Healer she probably had experience talking about that stuff but as his dad's girlfriend he had no interest in having this conversation with her. His dad… "Are… Are you going to tell Cade?"

"I think _you're_ the one who should be having that conversation with him."

"Right…"

"Well I'll see you at breakfast then," Tabitha offered and he nodded in relief, he hadn't wanted a conversation to end sooner in his life, "And if um… you have any questions, I exist, I am a qualified Healer so… I know things."

"I know…" Orous insisted and listened rather then saw her walk away, he let out a relieved breath when she left and relished her absence. Why hadn't he thought of a Silencing Charm? His face flushed once more as it occurred to him it actually could've been worse.

"Hey!" a more welcome female voice said cheerfully and was accompanied by a peck on the cheek, he was barely able to glance at his girlfriend, "Did I miss something?"

"Nope, absolutely nothing," Orous lied and forced a smile on his face to try spare her the same humiliation, he took her hand and saw she looked incredibly unconvinced, "I can never look at Tabitha again but that's all."

"Oh?" Lily wondered, raising an eyebrow, "Well that'll make breakfast and the rest of your life awkward."

"Probably," Orous conceded but gave no further explanation.

"Okay then," Lily laughed it off and let go of his hand, "I need the toilet so I'll meet you down there."

Orous nodded at this and she made her way into the bathroom, where Tabitha had come from he realized. He sighed once more and hesitantly made his way downstairs, towards what he realized was actually a rather enticing aroma. He heard a screech of delight and spared a glance in the front room where he saw Tabitha, she was thankfully occupied with Caradoc who was the source of the noise. Caradoc being the baby Cade had adopted recently, Tabitha was amusing him while getting ready to change his diaper. Orous moved on by and left them to it, he didn't really like being around Caradoc anyway. He didn't hate the baby, he just felt really awkward dealing with him. It was the same with Lydia – Vern's daughter – he just felt uncomfortable, babies didn't come naturally to him and he'd never had any experience with them until recently. He passed Amadeus on the way out, Amadeus being Caradoc's biological brother as Cade was also fostering the very odd five year old. Orous' own half-brother Oathan had murdered their parents, not they'd been good parents if the physical scars and obvious mental trauma Amadeus struggled with were any indication to go by.

He made his way into the kitchen, finding their three dogs drooling over the food Maurice was preparing. Maurice being his non-identical twin, aside from being the same height and having the same slight wave to their hair through Maurice's was light brown. The deaf teen had his back to him as he was shoveling sausages from the pan onto a plate, a glance at the table showed more plates already prepared with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, friend tomato and toast in the center for people to take as they pleased. Orous' stomach growled enthusiastically at the meal laid before him, though as he approached he was distracted by a map of the UK also on the table which had random locations marked with red x's.

"Can you move that out of the way, please?" Maurice asked of him in perfect English and Orous looked up, seeing his twin approaching to put the plate on the table.

'What is it?' Orous switched to sign language, while Maurice had a special necklace to translate speech to text for him to read he obviously was not touching it.

"Tabitha and I were going over the locations hit by the Shadow Master, trying to find some discernable pattern of attack in order to predict where will be hit next."

'Any luck?' Orous signed before picking up the map so Maurice could put the plate down.

"Nope, it seems completely random," Maurice answered briskly as he put down the plate, moving immediately back over to the counters while Orous put the map to one side out of the way, "However since the Ministry have taken many of their spies captive, I think the prison – when they're moved there – is likely to become a target. The Shadow Master did make a habit of destroying prisons in the past, wiped Azkaban off the face of the Earth so New Azkaban will probably follow suit. If it doesn't then I suspect she's become very unhinged, I don't know whether that's better or worse."

"Interesting," Orous commented as he sat down even though Maurice couldn't hear while his back was to him cleaning counters, explanations like that never let him forget his twin had been a child soldier trained by the Shadows thanks to their evil mother. He wondered if James would be recovered from his injuries enough to take part in the potential prison break, it'd be a good opportunity for Orous to take him out and he'd probably be weak from said injuries so easier to take down. That'd be good.

"Wow, that looks delicious!" Lily said before he saw her and he smiled as his girlfriend took a seat beside him, looking ready to start drooling like the dogs. The dogs that he realized had ran in the direction of the front door, likely marking Cade's return as the firefighter worked nights including last night, "Do we have to wait for everyone else or can we just eat?"

"I don't know," Orous shrugged as Cade returned as he'd suspected, he was tall with a shaved bald head and blond eyebrows.

"Hey, wow Maurice," Cade greeted them pleasantly though he looked very tired, approaching with the dogs that had gone back to ogling the food and likely forgotten why they even stopped, "Oh hi Lily, you're here early."

"I thought it'd be nice if we had breakfast together," Orous only half-lied as Amadeus the speeding blur made a beeline for Cade, Cade hugged his foster son, "She's basically family now."

"That's fine, you're always welcome Lily."


	19. IIX: Edge of a Revelation

_**Thanks to:** Cal, Colin Creevey, Bratwurst, RandomGerman and laceyowens50 for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Is Roxy going to get any action soon?_**  
 _Depends on your definition of action and soon but I'd say yes, she'll be a bit more involved this book_

 _ **Will James turn to the light or become completely evil?** _  
_Too spoilery to say_

 _ **Will we ever see Tommy again?** _  
_If you mean will he get resurrected that's too much of a spoiler but if you just mean be in it in general then yes, Scorpius recently heard his voice and that's not the last you'll hear of him_

 _ **Will Scorpius ever get apparation cracked?** _  
_Maybe, he did splinch himself that one time_

* * *

Scorpius stayed a bit longer at the Embry's seeing how his friends were doing, not too much longer though because he didn't want his plans to get waylaid again. He went back outside with Lamb who then apparated him to the new base, it was actually his first time going to the new base and it struck him immediately as both better and worse then the original.

For starters, at least from the outside, it looked to be in a much better state of repair. The walls were old coral colored bricks but the dark roof looked fresh and new, the frames around the windows and doors were also not falling apart. The building itself was also several stories tall, more then the original base but it came at the cost of being very visually smaller otherwise. It was possible it was magically expanded inside but he knew Varanian disliked doing that, made it easier to detect or something. The surrounding area was more open, there were only a few patches of trees but it was mostly expansive fields and the land itself seemed generally flatter. There was a fence not too far off which seemed to serve as a barrier for target practice, it was too far to make out exactly who but several people were firing off at moving conjured targets and another looked to be observing, likely focused on making the targets.

Scorpius was given a few glances but no one paid him any mind as he made for the actual building, after all he knew Brutus was in the basement and they should recognize him. Inside he found it not that different to the original base aside from the obviously new layout, rather plain and bland but that was practical and these bases weren't meant as a home. It started to occur to him that he wasn't exactly sure where he was going, he made to try the nearest door while opening his mouth to ask Lamb but almost bumped into a familiar pockmarked face exiting the same room.

"Wow, hey Scor, long time no see!" Tobias Latimer exclaimed in surprise, reddish-brown eyes widening but a smile caught he edges of his mouth. Scorpius returned the smile, maybe he had been overreacting about everyone being mad at him after all.

"Hey Lat, how you doing?" Scorpius offered, his smile slipping away as he recalled Latimer had lost his father recently and that Latimer had attempted suicide in the past… He was looking well enough though, a little tired but then who wasn't these days? He carried himself with more confidence than he had in Hogwarts, making him seem taller despite being on eye level with Scorpius but his hair was as dark as Scorpius' was fair, longer too as it reached down past his ears but it was no longer greasy.

"Alright, busy," Latimer explained, moving his arms to draw attention to the fact he was holding a bundle of parchment, "Varanian wanted me to take inventory of everything we have and deduce what we need so we know what to ask the Ministry for, dunno when exactly the next meeting is but Varanian said it was urgent. I thought it wouldn't be that hard since I'm already having to work out food allotments and resources for everyone across not only this base but the other locations because we got to keep everyone alive as well as trained, there's more to it though and there's potions I've never even heard of that like the Healers are after and everything… someone's got to micromanage all this shit."

"Right…" Scorpius muttered, having not really expected that and was left wondering where his days went.

"So anyway, how's Molly?" Latimer asked, looking rather concerned and understandably so, he had been in Molly's year in Hogwarts and they were good friends, "I've been meaning to visit her but there's a lot to do, Varanian's AWOL a lot then with Annie and Dom dying someone has to pick up the slack keeping everyone organized for when we can move."

"I'm sure she understands," Scorpius brushed it aside, pretty confident Molly would if she didn't already, "And she's doing better, obviously she's been through a lot but she's recovered enough to move around and go outside now."

"That's great, she's probably been going stir crazy," Latimer smiled, looking relieved, "You should tell her to come here whenever she feels up to it, she's more than welcome and everyone's been worried."

"I will do that."

"So… I'm guessing you're here for Brutus?" Latimer wondered rather accurately, "Varanian said you wanted to talk to him."

"That's right."

"Well go on through," Latimer offered, jerking his head in the direction he'd just came through, "Brutus' in the basement, just have the guard let you down. When you're done consider getting some apparation practice in, Varanian said you might want to work on that."

"I know, thanks," Scorpius muttered, feeling his cheeks burn a little at the reminder of his failure as Latimer moved on past them to get back to what he was doing.

"Good luck, oh hey Lamb."

Scorpius composed himself and headed on through the door, finding himself in the kitchen. Opposite him there was more window then wall and completely open to give a view of the people training by the fence, it made the room feel much bigger than it was. Two other walls were occupied by cabinets and counters and the appliances expected of any kitchen, the diagonal tile gave it a country feel and all the colors were cool pastels. A large light-colored table also joined them, of the chairs had been dragged over to sit at the end of the counters and upon which sat the sole occupant of the room. As he approached, Scorpius realized he was sitting – though he stood once Scorpius entered - in front of a door which logic deduced led to the basement.

"Hey Scorpius," the guard greeted him in a far more neutral tone then his friend, understandable since Scorpius didn't know this boy though he thought he vaguely recognized him from Hogwarts. The teen was taller than him but also far ganglier, neatly cropped dark hair failing to disguise the fact his most visible feature were scars scoring his face that looked lycanthropic in origin.

"Hey…you…" Scorpius offered a little awkwardly as he didn't know this kid's name, the teen scowled at this, "I-"

"It's Prosper."

"Right, Prosper, good to meet you," Scorpius bobbed his head in acknowledgement, pretty sure this was the Hogwarts dropout PAW member they'd turned to their cause.

"Good to _meet_ me?!" Prosper spluttered out, looking completely incredulous, "We've met already! We were in the same year in Hogwarts!"

"Not the same house though…" Scorpius pointed out, least he was pretty sure. Maybe his friends had a point about him not paying much attention to his classmates.

"Hufflepuffs always had Herbology and Charms with Gryffindors, we still had classes together for five years! Plus Astronomy and Flying were for all houses."

"Doesn't ring a bell…"

"I let you borrow my quill once?"

"I'm sorry, I guess you just have a pretty forgettable face," Scorpius offered, only making Prosper look even more confused and realizing how stupid his statement probably sounded when Prosper's facial scars were only surpassed by Agnes in terms of being easy to miss, "Look, Hogwarts was a long time ago, can you just let me see Brutus?"

"I don't know, do you remember who Brutus is?" Prosper spoke with heavy sarcasm as he moved aside, dragging the chair with him by one hand and using the other to flick his wand at the door.

"I- I'll ju- ju- just w- w- wait out h- here," Lamb stammered out from behind them, Scorpius spared him a glance to see the werewolf looking uncommonly uncomfortable as he took a seat about as far away from them as possible and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Come on," Prosper was saying and Scorpius looked back to see the teen was already descending, Scorpius quickly followed.

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but much like most windowless basements, it was dark with the artificial light unable to provide to same warmth to the bare brick walls. This made it all the more disturbing it was juxtaposed by a childish atmosphere, the first thing that stood out to him was the brightly colored jigsaw rug scattered with toys for toddlers. Scorpius felt a chill creep through him as he reached the bottom despite the lack of cold down there, laying eyes for the first time on the Shadow Master's child.

The boy was only two or three years old, certainly no older than his own brother and in fact he supposed this child would also be his cousin. There was no mistaking the resemblance to Calderon, or probably rather to his twin, with short night black hair contrasting with his pale skin and dark chestnut orbs that met Scorpius' gray. Inside his mind a wail of despair was let out, echoing in the hollow of his mind so only he could hear. Another basement briefly flashed before his eyes, a basement the boy's mother and uncle had once been kept in…

"You have a visitor," Prosper said, snapping Scorpius from his stupor though Calderon continued to sob inside his head.

Scorpius tore his eyes from the boy, briefly skimming the rest of the bare room to finish taking in the contents: two beds, one obviously child-sized and some crayon drawings decorating the walls. Brutus Ashain had stood, his little boy running over to him and Brutus put a protective six-fingered hand on his shoulder.

 _You have to get him out of here_ , Calderon pleaded so desperately that Scorpius was starting to feel desperate himself, _Don't let history repeat itself again_

"Can't you take the kid outside or something?" Scorpius questioned of Prosper, despite Calderon's distress he understood why they'd want to keep him with his dad but that didn't mean he shouldn't be let out. Plus, he'd prefer to be alone with Brutus.

"Um… Well, I guess so since I'm supposed to do what you say," Prosper offered uncertainly, scratching at the back of his head, "But he's not _really_ supposed to right now, he lost his outside privileges for-"

"Then just take him outside, its fine," Scorpius interjected dismissively, "Surely you can handle a toddler while we have a conversation, kids need fresh air not basements."

"As you wish," Prosper agreed reluctantly before gesturing at the boy, "Come on, Omega, want to go outside again?"

"I want go home," Omega said immediately.

"You know you can't right now."

"Can Dada come?"

"You know he can't right now."

"Just go and have fun," Brutus urged his son as the boy heaved a sigh, gently pushing the kid forwards as he was seemingly in agreement with wanting him to get some fresh air, "And be good this time, okay? Remember what we talked about."

"Yes, Dada, I good," Omega chimed up as he walked over to Prosper obediently, Prosper took his hand – which made the boy scowl – and led him up the stairs.

Scorpius waited until they were up the stairs, the loud clunk and vanishing of light from upstairs marking the door closing behind them. He glanced over at Brutus and closed the distance between them a bit, taking in his appearance which hadn't changed much since he'd last seen him a month ago. His dark chestnut eyes were large and at different angles and heights, his large bulbously nose slanted and his overly thin mouth curled to one side, his large ears also stuck out of his head at differing levels. There was no mistaking his uniquely deformed face but there was also no mistaking he was an Ashain, his eyes were still a dark chestnut and his hair extremely dark auburn which was slightly longer than it had been a month ago. For some reason, he almost felt like giving him a hug.

 _He looks so sad_

"What do you want?" Brutus asked, his gruff voice too full of defeat to sound remotely threatening as he sat down on the bed. His hulking form slumping, making it more obvious one of his shoulders was higher than the other, "You know there's nothing more I can do, right? If stripping her of her magic and handing her into the Head Auror's hands doesn't help, dunno what the fuck else you expect."

"I'm not here because of that," Scorpius told him as he went over, withdrawing his wand and casting a quick Silencing Charm to prevent eavesdropping, "I need to know where Calderon's body is."

"Ugh, this _again_? It's not going to work," Brutus complained, rolling his eyes as Scorpius pocketed his wand, "Just let his soul go, Tommy's been through enough."

"I can't do that, I won't give up on him."

"I'm not sure I even know where his body is anymore," Brutus said with a sigh and continued before Scorpius could protest, "Last I heard she was moving him."

"Where to?"

"Hogwarts," Brutus admitted and Scorpius felt his body straighten in surprise, "She was going to put him in the hall of their ancestors, the Chamber of Secrets, and let Hogwarts be his tomb."

"Well… that's okay," Scorpius stated with mixed feelings, it was at least a location he knew and could work with but it was unfortunately nigh impossible to get into right now so that was rather problematic.

"Well good luck with your doomed plan," Brutus offered disinterestedly as he rolled over, going from sitting to lying on his back.

"That's not all I wanted to ask about, I need to know why she can come back from the dead," Scorpius continued but Brutus continued to lie there disinterestedly staring at the ceiling, despite having faith in his magic Scorpius was still compelled to glance at the closed doorway for reassurance they were truly alone and undisturbed before continuing, "I need to know because I can do the same."

" _What?!"_

* * *

Molly straightened herself up, dusting off the old suede jacket she now wore. Flan had been nice enough to procure it for her, it wasn't exactly the same as her usual one but it was close enough. It had surprised her how much just how much better she felt wearing normal clothes again, she still didn't feel completely comfortable in her own skin but getting to wear normal clothes after being bedridden and imprisoned went a long way to making her feel more normal. Normal was the new good. She let out a breath, not that she had put on the jacket for any normal outing.

" _You don't have to go if you don't want to_ ," a voice spoke from behind her, she turned seeing Oathan- both the small unconscious boy breathing raggedly in the other bed _and_ the man in the mid-twenties which was just a manifestation of her poor mental health mingled with her Seer sight. It didn't even surprise her anymore.

She _knew_ she was doing better. Physically she could no longer feel her ribs through her skin and the worst wounds had healed into scars while the weakest were gone entirely, she felt a lot stronger and no longer sleeping constantly or doped up constantly with potions. Then mentally… mentally she still felt she was doing better, she was working through things in her head _but_ the hallucinations still continued. Flan still believed they'd most likely stop as she recovered and even though she was feeling better, logically she knew it would take longer than a month to heal but it didn't stop her worrying for her sanity, it just shoved it off to the side instead.

"I want to," Molly told him, even though 'he' didn't exist but she was starting to accept this was just life now. He was sitting beside his child self, chin resting on the sword of Gryffindor, "I'll be nervous no matter how long I wait."

Adult-Oathan said nothing, his violently violet eyes now focused on himself.

"I'm ready," Molly insisted though he didn't look away from the little boy, each breath seeming a battle for him. She pitied him.

" _Don't pity me yet_ ," adult-Oathan spoke up, still without looking at her and she let her gaze shift the child as well, " _Every breath would be agony if I awoke, the slumber is painless. It's the last long rest we'll have for a long time, savor it while you can."_

"I know but I still have to do this," Molly concurred, turning on her heel and striding out of the room.

She headed downstairs where the Leebins were, Scorpius and Lamb had already left. Flan's kids were playing Exploding Snap on the floor while he stood talking to his wife on the other side of the room, he stopped when he spotted her though. Instead he seemed to wrap up the conversation, finally giving her a kiss goodbye before moving over to Molly.

"You ready to go?" Flan asked of her and she nodded, "Then let's go."

"Do you remember the address?" Molly asked of him as they made their way outside, the weather very warm and welcoming.

"Indeed," Flan confirmed as they continued walking, needing to get away from the range of anti-apparation spells, "It's a lovely day."

"Yeah, shame no one's able to enjoy it."

"Guess the weather didn't get the memo about the word ending."

"I think this is far enough," Molly pointed out, fairly certain they were out of range, "Meet you there."

She saw Flan nod as she disapparated, her body compressing into nothingness as she focused on the location with determination. She reappeared with a bang in the open countryside, there was another crack and Flan was there beside her before she had time to take in the scenery. Rolling fields stretched out before her, a banner of clear blue above her with the shining down unhindered by the branches blocking it around Hogan's. And then there was the target, nestled in the crook of the hillside was the old abandoned cottage that had been her grandfather's home.

"Looks like we arrived unsplinched," Flan said and she glanced back to him, realizing he was looking at his arms as to make sure they were still attached, "Can't cast a spell but apparation is a-okay."

"Yeah, I dunno why Scorpius struggles with it," Molly admitted as she let Flan look around as well, allowing him to lay eyes on the cottage before starting to walk towards it with him, "When you get used to it it's like riding a broom, it's just something you just do not something you have to even think about."

"I guess he's just not used to it… Do you still him flickering?"

"Yup," Molly confirmed readily and sighed, "It really doesn't help me with figuring out whether I can trust him anymore, it was happening long before I was captured too so it's definitely not linked to my sanity."

"Maybe that's why he's flickering? Could be a manifestation of his your trust issues."

"I don't think so," Molly brushed it off and decided to elaborate, it was easy to talk to him even though she found herself caring less about it. She couldn't help but feel they'd already lost so it didn't really matter what was up with Scorpius, Oathan was the new priority, "You see, it's not like he's flickering in and out of existence but rather he's flickering between being himself and another person. The more it happens the more I'm sure of that, it's like he's flickering between being two different people."

"Hmm… Do you know who the other person is?" Flan asked as they reached the cottage, resting his hand on the sword of Gryffindor at his hip.

"No, it's too brief to get a good look. I do know they have dark hair and eyes though, it stands out because it's so opposite of Scorpius," Molly explained before jerking her head at the cottage, "Maybe I'll finally get some answers in here."

"Maybe," Flan agreed though his tone suggested a healthy amount of skepticism as he followed her inside.

It was cooler inside, out of the gaze of the sun and was rather bland all things considered. The walls were white and anything decorating them and had been removed decades ago, most things there had but there were still some large items of furniture left behind, unable to fit into the apartment her mother and uncles had moved into. They were covered in large white dust sheets, only making the room feel more empty and solemn, her grandparents had lived here but they'd also died here.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Flan questioned of her as he looked around, "To find this secret room?"

"Well you can do nothing, according to Roman only those of Magnus' bloodline can enter- kinda like Platform Nine and Three Quarters but more exclusive from what I understand," Molly explained as she recalled what her uncle had told her years before, she put a hand to the nearest wall and started moving along with her hand on it, "Sorry. You should still look around though while I look for this, maybe there's somethi- Woah!"

Molly almost fell off her feet as her hand slid through the wall without warning, she managed to pull herself back though and stabilize herself though. She studied the blank stretch carefully, seeing no discernable difference to the rest of the wall. Cautiously she stretched her hand back out to it and found it went through it again, it still looked solid around her hand but she could move it around as if there was nothing there.

"You found it," Flan realized it as he came over, reaching out his own hand to the wall but it didn't go through. He patted it like it was solid even though her hand was going through it just an inch away, she even heard the slap of skin on plaster, "Weird."

"Yeah," Molly agreed as she pulled her hand back.

"Least we know it still works."

"Yeah," Molly said again, taking a deep breath as her insides quivered nervously, "Here goes nothing."

Molly reached her hand out again but this time stepped forwards as well so when her hand went through the wall, her body followed. She had to blink as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, finding herself in a small closet-sized room. The walls in here were brown and looked like boards, there were shelves but only one had anything on it and she left it for the time being to turn back around. She could see back out into the room quite clearly, there was a slight haze around the edges but otherwise she saw Flan standing there as if no such wall existed.

"You still there?" Flan wondered a little anxiously.

"I'm standing right in front of you, it's a very small space," Molly told him truthfully, waving her hand but his expression remained blank as if he saw nothing, "You can't see me?"

"I only see the wall, I can hear you though."

"Cool."

"So is it there?"

"I think so," Molly confirmed, shifting her gaze to the right where a letter was staring her in the face. In fact it was on perfect eye level with her, almost as if it was planned.

"I'll erm… I'll leave you to it, I'll go look around like you suggested," Flan decided and moved away from the wall, "Tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks, Flan."

Molly took a deep breath before picking up the letter, there was also some kind of wooden puzzle box that it had been resting on as well but she decided to leave that for now. The envelope was fairly heavy, the thick good quality parchment probably contributed but she still thought it was probably still a decent length letter held within. She held up to her face so she could read the words written almost three decades before:

 ** _Molly Mavis Weasley_**

 ** _2024_**

* * *

"You heard me," Scorpius pointed out calmly, in contrast Brutus had shot bolt upright and his jaw was hanging open, "When I was rescuing my girlfriend I got shot through the heart and I died, I was dead and gone, I saw my buddy in this weird afterlife place."

"Maybe it was just a near death experience?" Brutus seemed to half ask and half guess though Scorpius had successfully regained his attention.

"Someone in real life was there, they confirmed I was dead and that I didn't get healing. The wound healed on its own and I came back."

"That's what happened to Sal…" Brutus mused aloud, his gaze trailing off with his words.

"I know, Brutus, that's why I need to know what you know about it."

"Well I don't have anything good to tell you," Brutus admitted with a shrug as he continued to gaze off thoughtfully, "Sal's immortality wasn't planned, she never tried to become immortal and doesn't know how it happened. It's as much of a mystery to us as it was to you."

"And in all this time, she _never_ looked into what caused it?" Scorpius questioned, finding it hard to believe she wouldn't if she didn't know why it happened, "Not at all? She just accepted it as divine intervention with no questions asked?"

"We looked into it of course," Brutus told him rather begrudgingly, still not looking at him and idly started playing with his hands, "But we never found anything, we never figured out what caused it."

"You must have _some_ idea what caused it, surely?"

"Look, the avenues I followed all led nowhere," Brutus said and finally looked back to him, "None of the theories panned out, though it's hard to tell since Sal often dallies with things not well documented if not unheard of so I could be wrong. Still, I suspect that it was more likely not any one thing that caused her immortality but rather a combination, alone it's not enough to defy death but shit just lined up together. I'm just fumbling along in the dark so who the hell knows?"

"Apparently no one," Scorpius muttered as Brutus' ugly mug scrunched up suddenly as if he was scowling, dark chestnut eyes drifting off focus again.

" _Although_ … if its effecting you too then that should narrow down the possibilities, I never thought it applied to anyone besides her."

"What about Calderon?" Scorpius suggested while Brutus continued to look troubles, "its not unreasonable to think he could have the same thing as her, they're both so powerful and twins and all. I have his soul so it could've just transferred to me."

"If it applied to Tommy then you wouldn't have his soul!" Brutus scoffed, glaring at him like the suggestion was stupid.

"Maybe I took his soul before he could revive."

"I doubt it, his body never healed like hers or apparently yours did."

"Okay," Scorpius mused, not entirely convinced that meant it was nothing but it could still be other things so he'd leave it for now, "What about the wrist connection then? Maybe it's just her and that's why it links to me."

"You severed that connection," Brutus pointed out with a dismissive shake of his head, "Besides, didn't Lysander die and stay dead? If it was that it should apply to all of you, there was nothing different about your connection to any of the others."

"What's your theory then?" Scorpius questioned, gesturing for him to go on and noticed Brutus' gaze focus on his hand.

"Isn't it obvious?" Brutus breathed quietly and jerked his head in the direction of Scorpius' hand, the one with the Rune arrow scarred into his palm along with a line through it where Brutus had made him cut himself once.

"The Blood Runes?" Scorpius wondered in confusion, suddenly finding himself completely lost and eyed his palm looking for answers, "They've got nothing to do with immortality?"

"I know, quite the opposite, they left Sal comatose and barely alive after you activated. Do you remember that? After all think about it, how many times have you ever actually met Sal? How many of those times were you trying to save her life?"

"Never," Scorpius shot out immediately, "I remember her being in a coma or something after the Blood Runes but I never tried to save her."

"But you did because _I_ did!" Brutus hissed, sounding very distraught and Scorpius looked back to see the deformed face even more contorted by his distress, "Don't you remember when I tricked you into giving your blood to the potion? Even if you didn't realize it was to save her at that exact moment in time, you still did it. We did it, we brought her back… _I_ caused this."

"What's that got to do with me, though?" Scorpius wondered dubiously, not seeing how saving her would give him immortality.

"You put her into a coma by activating the Blood Runes, being connected to the Specters you destroyed nearly killed her. The magic I used works by having the person who caused the injury take it back- that's why it was important I make sure you willingly gave your blood- and restores her by binding her to you, she wasn't afflicted anymore because you weren't. On the flipside if she ever did this to you then you would be restored because she is and she would be restored if you did this again, it's called Tethering and as long as one of you is fine the other should be," Brutus explained and Scorpius suddenly felt cold despite the warmth, "This was alchemy, powerful restoration magic."

"Powerful enough to raise the dead?"

"It shouldn't be, that's the thing, it's _only_ supposed to work for the specific magic you inflicted. It was often used amongst warring Celtic clans, they'd restore those they'd cursed as part of alliances later on but it didn't make any of them immortal."

"That's why you think it's a combination of things?" Scorpius realized aloud and Brutus gave a nod, "That something has somehow boosted this Tethering to defy even death?"

"It's too much of a coincidence otherwise, don't you think?" Brutus queried as he averted his gaze again, "That after being restored by Tethering she not only seems to become allergic to death but the person Tethered to her _also_ mysteriously developed immortality?"

"Do you think it's just because she's so powerful?"

"Maybe, or it's something to do with being bounds to thousands of Specters which are just shadows of Dementors and are themselves immortal since they're not really alive, or it's something to do with the Blood Runes themselves," Brutus continued quietly and Scorpius looked back down at the scar on his palm, "None of the documented uses were to save someone from something as powerful as that and I noticed you cut yourself right over Tiwaz, maybe it enhanced it somehow. I don't know."

"It was glowing when I was in the afterlife…" Scorpius recalled unhappily, feeling the information starting to sink into his brain.

"I caused this, I caused all of this," Brutus whispered, his voice cracking as if on the cusp of crying but Scorpius found it hard to feel sympathy. After all he _had_ caused this, he'd helped her set up the dominoes then watched her knock them out and probably also given her immortality.

"So fix it, Brutus," Scorpius snapped at him sharply, looking back up and seeing Brutus had let his head fall into his six-fingered hands, "How do I get rid of this Tethering?"

"You can't, there's no way to break the connection. There's nothing any of us can do now."

* * *

Despite being well aware that the letter had been addressed to her, Molly still felt chills creeping through her as she read those words. With trepidation she reached out, letting her fingers trace the aged ink that had long since faded with time. This was real, Roman had been right all those years ago. It had been in the back of her mind but she hadn't realized how much a part of her had doubted the truth of it until this very moment, her parents hadn't even _met_ when her grandfather had written these words. And she had the gall to call herself a Seer?

Molly swallowed nervously and picked up the puzzle box before letting herself sink down to the ground, she put the box beside her and settled into a more comfortable sitting position to read the letter. This was it, this was maybe the answers she'd need to get a grip on putting her powers to good use and the end war. She turned the letter over, finding a wax seal of a letter 'M.' Whether it was supposed to stand for Magnus or Molly, both or something completely different she had no clue. Either way she cracked the seal and removed the letter, moving slowly as she found herself struggling with an irrational fear of missing something. She unfolded it to find there were several pages, all written in the same faded ink on the same aged parchment as the envelope. She started to read:

 _Dear Molly,_

 _I'd say I hope this letter finds you well, or as well as you can be after your recent ordeal, but I already know for these words to be read at all you must be._

Molly stopped reading for a moment in surprise, her recent ordeal? He knew what she had been through? She wasn't sure whether to be ashamed or pleased, after all if he knew that much detail then it fueled her hope this would help her. She went back to reading.

 _Yes, I know what you've been through, I would not have chosen to send a letter through time if I was not confident of how things would fall into place. Though I confess you may find our correspondence disappointing, I don't have answers for you in regards to your powers. I know you'd like to see with the clarity you know I must be capable of to write this but not only am I unsure whether it's even possible for you, I wouldn't know where to begin describing my process._

 _You see, for me the visions began in infancy so it's been a part of me for as long as I can remember, honestly I live more in the future then the present and I always have. My mother died in labor which teaches an important lesson, Molly, that life and death are intricately linked. Unfortunately my father didn't see it that way and went mad with grief, I was treated cruelly and as the severity of the neglect I suffered was so great I ended up looking with my third eye, if I hadn't had them for stimulus I would probably be a drooling permanent occupant of St Mungo's._

 _It's because of this I am unsure whether you or anyone else can see like I do, it's possible my mind just broke in the right way to develop like this and it's not something easily replicated, I'd never claim I'm not damaged. Furthermore, when you learn to do something before you're even capable of stringing coherent thoughts together, it becomes something you just do as naturally as breathing or blinking and is not easily described. It is not aided by the fact my father also denied me an education so my magical knowledge is lacking, I am entirely self-taught and piecing things together yourself does not lend itself well to explaining this to others. So I hope you understand why I cannot help you in this regard, I have tried several times to think of what to say but I always find myself at a loss._

 _On the other end of the spectrum, I won't be telling you what I know of the future not because can't but because I simply have no desire to. Simply telling you what can happen is pointless, I could've told anyone that but I wanted to speak to you specifically. You're my granddaughter and our gift connects us through time and space, you're a powerful Seer in your own right and spelling things out to you would be insulting to the both of us. You already know what's coming and what you don't know, you'll discover in time. Don't despair though, Molly, I already know you can do this and the reason you don't is the main point of this letter._

 _You desire the defeat of the Shadow Master but find yourself at an impasse, it is more complicated than a fork in the road as her victory remains a strong possibility and further down the road a new window will eventually open but there are essentially two outcomes for her fall now. As you know the first outcome rests in your boyfriend defeating her in the present, if he is successful then by this time next year she will be gone and if he is unsuccessful then by this time next year he will be gone. The second outcome comes twenty years after this when Oathan Loren defeats her, no one else will be able to during that interim and if he fails it'll be years before another will be able to, some American I think._

 _You know this, you also know the latter is more likely but what you don't know is your ordeal is skewing things in favor of the latter. You're depressed, Molly, and even if you don't realize it this has an impact on your gift._

 _I touched briefly upon my troubled childhood and it got a lot worse, before I even hit adolescence I had become a bitter hate-filled person and I idolized the Death Eaters. I didn't care about their goals or ideals, I just knew it was cause chaos and I wanted to watch the world burn. I hadn't experienced kindness or love or any of that good stuff, even in my visions I was seeing only bad and it just reinforced my belief everyone was evil and the world deserved to burn. I chased after – I was living on the streets by then, my father had thrown me out years ago - them like lost puppy, naturally they didn't care much for me and wouldn't take me seriously, they were often cruel to me but I was used to that. Still I would help them, I would do horrible things- this wand I have isn't even mine, I murdered an innocent man and stole his wand. I've never claimed to be a good person._

 _Anyway, eventually I was injured in a skirmish and the Death Eaters naturally left me to die. I thought I was done for and foresaw as much, when I collapsed by the side of the road I never expected to wake up. I was found by some random muggles driving by though, they took me to the nearest muggle hospital- St Audrey's – and they saved my life, I wish I knew who those muggles were. It was mind blowing to me, I hadn't experienced such kindness before and I had long stopped believing people even were capable of such things. I saw the care people had for their loved ones in the hospital, even the concern staff had for their patients and my visions were no longer all bad._

 _It made me realize the grave error in my thoughts, not everyone was evil so screw the Death Eaters, but also that my emotions affected my power. I'd only been seeing what I wanted to see, I had stopped believing people could be good so I had stopped seeing any evidence of people being good, I'd closed myself off to it on a subconscious level so I couldn't see it anymore. Really it's a vicious cycle to become trapped in, I kept expecting to see bad because I was only seeing bad and I was only seeing bad because I expected to see bad. _

_And now you're falling victim to the same vicious cycle, you're only seeing things related to Oathan's future because you're giving up on Scorpius and you're giving up on Scorpius because you only keep seeing things related to Oathan's future. You have to snap yourself out of it, Scorpius' future may have less of a chance of success but that doesn't mean it's impossible._

 _If I had kept trailing after Voldemort then eventually I would've been able to join him, he was more likely to win then since I could've stopped him damning himself but now his failure is such a forgone conclusion this war isn't worth looking at. The future is not set in stone it is far more fluid, like water, like a river. You have twenty years to prepare for Oathan whereas Scorpius has just a year, of course Oathan has better odds of success but that doesn't mean Scorpius has none, he can do it if he finds the man of many souls._

 _Quite frankly, I don't actually mind if Scorpius or Oathan defeats her as both futures have merits. Naturally if Scorpius wins then the loss of life will be greatly diminished, more of our bloodline has a chance to survive but by the time Oathan wins, the world will have been irreparably changed forever. Life and death, remember Molly, they're intricately linked so a new world rising from the ashes after the old flawed world has fallen might now be a bad idea. Either way you're likely to survive and have a life, to find happiness and have a family so our bloodline continues._

 _I don't know which future is preferable and wouldn't mind Oathan winning but it's not my choice anymore because I am long dead by the time you read this, my death will have helped shape my children's future lives, put them on preferable paths, life and death. No, the choice rests with you now, Molly, you're the architect of fate now. That's why I think it's important you're viewing this as impartially as possible without having sealed yourself off to one particular future, a future you may find much happier so I hope you think on what I said._

 _I wish you all the best, Molly, with your recovery, your future and whatever path you choose to walk. I regret I could not meet you but just knowing you'll exist gives me more joy and comfort then you could know, I'll die happy and I hope you'll feel the same one far off day after a fulfilling life. Your family is proud of you, don't forget that._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Magnus_

* * *

Omega Riddle didn't like when they separated him from his Dada, he already was separated from his Mama, Vathan and of course Lazarus – he hadn't even realized he _could_ be separated from Lazarus like this - so he really didn't like it. In fact, he lamented as he silently climbed the stairs with Prosper, there was a great many things about this place and these people that he didn't like. Like everything. From the rooms not being as nice as anywhere his Mama had shown him, to the toys not being as nice, to the people not being as nice, to the thing he didn't like the most: that they didn't let him go home. These were the enemies his Mama had warned them about, the bad people.

"And remember, Omega, you have to _behave_ ," Prosper spoke up as they reached the kitchen room where slaves made food, he saw for once there was actually a slave there sitting at the table, "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Omega said.

After all he knew that _Prosper_ thought he had to behave but Prosper clearly had a messed up idea of what behave was compared to what his parents had taught him, obviously he wasn't going to listen to the enemies over his own parents. Mama had told him he didn't have to listen to anyone except her and Dada, everyone else was supposed to listen to _him_. He hoped when Mama found them – which she would, his Mama could do anything - she would kill Prosper with fire.

"That means no running off again and being nice, do you understand?" Prosper reiterated and Omega scowled at him, he wasn't a stupid – he could go to the bathroom all by himself.

"Yes," Omega said again though more testily.

"I just have to make sure, last time you made Bertie cry and that's not okay," Prosper continued and Omega just rolled his eyes, it wasn't his fault Bertie was a wimp who didn't like the truth. He hadn't seen most his family since like forever ago but you didn't see him crying about it - not anymore – so he didn't know what Bertie's problem was, "By the way, I um… I'm sorry for erm… you know, the whole imprisonment thing."

"Huh?" Omega wondered in shock at Prosper's apology before realizing he was just speaking to the slave.

"I- I- Its o- ok- okay," the slave brushed it off though he looked incredibly uncomfortable and his wrist was shaking, the poor slave. Omega hadn't realized they were holding slaves prisoner too, hopefully his Mama would save the slave too.

"I'm still sorry," Prosper repeated and Omega shook his head, if he was _really_ sorry then he wouldn't be holding them all prisoner, "Well come on, Omega, let's go outside."

Omega said nothing, just allowing himself to be led away – Prosper was still holding his hand – by his captor. Prosper took him outside where it was sunny, though somehow it never seemed as warm as where they lived. There were people out further away but it was the bird calls that captured his attention, he could hear them chattering about mostly food - animals seemed to talk a lot about food – but they were there and he was pretty sure none of this people could talk to them like he could.

He didn't know of anyone else who could except for Lazarus, that's why he thought they'd be perfect to get a message out. Lazarus was with Mama after all, if the birds told him then he could tell her where he and Dada were then she could save them. The bad people wouldn't even know to stop the birds, as long as they didn't _see_ him talking to the birds anyway because then they might suspect. The problem was they never let him be alone, not outside where he could actually speak to the birds anyway because they didn't want him to run off. In hindsight, Omega thought _maybe_ he shouldn't have tried running off the first few times they let him out, maybe then they'd be less strict now.

"See Bertie? Didn't I tell you its nice outside?" a female voice was saying.

Omega's eyes shot towards the source like a homing missile, finding Bertie and Bertie's own Mama, Crystal. They were much closer than the other bad people doing magic further away, she was just walking him slowly around and despite continuing to cling to her for dear life, was looking a little relaxed. Bertie was a bit bigger then him and was older then him, probably around Vathan's age but he was just _weird_. He wasn't like Vathan at all though, he was just weird and got upset over everything… though in thinking about it, maybe he would serve as a good distraction?

"Hi Bertie!" Omega called out loudly and he saw Bertie freeze, his usual terrified expression returning as Omega waved with his free hand.

"Omega, didn't I say-" Prosper tried to chastise him.

"You said be nice!" Omega insisted desperately, "I be nice. I want say sorry… like _you_."

"Really?" Prosper wondered, ogling him in surprise then glancing at the other two who were watching, "Is that okay with you?"

"If he wants to say sorry, I suppose so," Crystal agreed and Omega tried very hard not to smile as the adults led them closer until he was facing the bigger boy, he had cropped dark hair and miscolored eyes darting around nervously.

"Bertie, I sorry," Omega told him in a way he hoped sounded sincere but he wasn't as good at people words as he was at bird or snake words, the again birds and snakes were simpler then people. Bertie said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement and Prosper let go of his hand as he made to give Bertie a hug, after a second of surprise Bertie hugged him cautiously back. Omega smirked and stood on his tiptoes to whisper into Bertie's ear, "Sorry I was _wrong_. Mama is gonna kill you, kill you _and_ your family! You can watch the burning, burning and screaming as all of the skins go burning off-"

"No!" Bertie cried and pulled away, starting to panic and hyperventilate as his body shook violently.

"Omega!" Prosper barked at him, pulling him further from the boy as Crystal knelt down to try comfort her son, "What did I tell you!"

"I saw it! I saw Mama killed the bad people and you are all of the bad people! You will burn! Burn and scream and die!" Omega yelled at him, Bertie's body seized up in terror and his breathing worsened, "All of you! Burning and screaming and burning and screaming til you all dead!"

"Can you get his Calming Draught?" Crystal pleaded of Prosper.

" _Accio Calming Draught!_ " Prosper cast and Omega started to back away while he was distracted to ready his escape, Crystal's attention was completely focused on trying to soothe her weirdo kid.

The vial flew into Prosper's hand and his captor knelt down to be at Bertie's level, getting him to drink the contents of the vial. Not that Omega saw that as he bolted, tearing away from the enemies as fast as his little legs could carry him, pushing himself to run faster than he ever had because he knew he didn't have long and could already hear them calling his name. He made a beeline for the tree line, they would give him some cover and were where birds were.

" _BIRDS!_ " Omega yelled to them in their language as he came to a halt in a small clearing, spinning around and holding up his arms, " _BIRDS, COME TO ME!"_

 _"A human who can speak?"_

 _"What is this?"_

 _"How odd!"_

" _Yes I can speak!"_ Omega told them loudly – loudly as he could when he was panting anyway - over their chattering as they flocked around, those in the vicinity coming to the trees around, " _I need your help! I have no wings so I cannot escape like you, my friends, I need you!"_

 _"What can we do?"_

 _"Poor human."_

 _"How can we help?"_

 _"I need you to remember this location and pass the message along, fly far from here and tell all who will listen to spread the word,"_ Omega pleaded with them desperately, " _You need to find my brother, you will know him because he can speak to you as well. You need to tell him where I am so he can get help, please, I need-"_

"Omega!" Prosper called and Omega stopped speaking immediately, the birds immediately scattered at the rude interruption. He made a pitiful attempt to run but Prosper was faster and grabbed him quickly, "What do you think you're playing at?! This is why you can't go outside more!"

Omega just shrugged, instead allowing himself to catch his breath. He'd done all he could, he could only hope it was enough and they'd spread the word. Prosper gripped his arm tightly as he started marching him back towards his prison, Omega found himself smiling this time and didn't fight it. Omega thought his Mama would be _very_ proud of him when she came to save them.


	20. IIX: Visions and Errands

_**Thanks to:** Colin Creevey, Guest, SJV and RandomGerman for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 _ **Will Omega's words be enough for the birds to help?** _  
_Too spoilery to say_

 _ **Who is in that one base?** _  
_Tobias Latimer, Heather Longbottom, Gerhard Rutherford, Prosper Blackbourne, Roman Rivers, Lorcan Scamander, Martha Seneca, Maximus Nott, Olivia Nott, Lydia Nott-Dursley, John Avery, Crystal Sanford, Agnes Wilson, Ivy Wilson, Bertie Wilson then Brutus Ashain and Omega Riddle are there as prisoners. Other characters drift in and out but those are the ones currently staying there permanently_

 ** _Does Scorpius basically have two options? The mysterious man, or he himself dying and making Sal mortal?_**  
 _Again too spoilery_

 _ **What does he (Magnus) mean by that?** _  
_He just means it'll be even more changed, by the time Oathan wins civilization as we know it is already gone because Sal took over everywhere whereas right now magic is revealed but in not-Sal places the governments are still in place and stuff, one aspect is basically different now whereas everything is different with Oathan_

 _ **How many chapters are there until the end of the book?** _  
_I honestly don't know, I don't have the entire book planned chapter by chapter and I'm so awful at gauging how long it will be compared to what I imagine that I couldn't even hazard a guess with any reasonable degree of accuracy  
_

 _ **Will Michael stop snapping at everyone soon?** _  
_Maybe, too spoilery to say_

* * *

"You can't just give up, Brutus," Scorpius complained to the Shadow Master's former lover but it was to no avail.

"It's not giving up to see the writing on the wall, and if you can't read it says 'we're fucked,'" Brutus pointed out bitterly, "This isn't even my fight, I'm not one of you."

"But what about your famil-"

"Maybe you should worry about your _own_ family," Brutus interjected and Scorpius resisted the urge to roll his eyes in frustration, even his imprisoned enemies were somehow experts on his personal life too apparently. Wait, how would Brutus possibly know?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's only a matter of time before Sal goes after them, she has a strange love-hate relationship with your family- _her_ family. I mean she killed your baby sister because she was jealous her cousin had a baby after our own just died, I'd be pretty concerned for your brother if I were you and your mother isn't a blood relative so Sal doesn't give a damn about her."

"You really think she'll go after my family?" Scorpius wondered with worry.

"I'm surprised she hasn't already," Brutus admitted, "It was always her plan when she started on England."

Scorpius opened his mouth to respond to this but closed it as they were interrupted by the entrance, they both turned to see Prosper had returned with Omega. The werewolf was scowling as he led the small child by the wrist back down the stairs, in contrast Omega was trying and failing not to grin.

"You're back quickly," Scorpius pointed out, trying not to let his disappointment show.

"Omega lost his outside privileges again," Prosper growled with a glare in the boy's direction as he let him go, Omega was unfazed and practically skipped cheerfully over to his father who put a protective arm around his son.

"We were done anyway," Brutus said and Scorpius wanted to object to this but he also didn't want to continue their discussion in front of the child.

"You are?" Prosper wondered in surprise, directing the question to Scorpius.

"For now," Scorpius agreed begrudgingly and Prosper gave a shrug of acknowledgement before starting to climb back up the stairs, Scorpius turned back to Brutus, "Remember what we talked about, Brutus, this isn't over."

"Sure," Brutus stated blandly.

"And don't tell anyone," Scorpius hissed in a quieter but more warning tone before climbing the stairs after the werewolf.

* * *

Molly read the letter then reread it again, then reread it again through several more times than leaned her head back as she let out a disappointed sigh. There was a lot to unpack there but none of it had been anything in particular she'd been hoping for in terms of useful Seer advice, all he really had was not letting her emotions interfere and she didn't think she was… was she? She wasn't sure where she stood with Scorpius but that didn't mean she'd given up on him defeating the Shadow Master, she hadn't given up on that.

She folded the letter back up and pocketed it safely, despite her disappointment she still thought it was special, so much so she wasn't even sure whether she wanted Flan to share in its contents. She leaned back against the wall tiredly and her eyes were drawn to something else, he'd left a crystal ball on one of the shelves. She hadn't used one of those in a while.

Molly drew her wand and lazily cast _Accio_ to bring it to her, catching it as easily as she would a Quaffle in Quidditch. That felt like such ancient history now she was almost surprised to catch it, she didn't even feel like the same person, she wasn't sure whether to envy or pity her.

She held the crystal orb carefully, gazing into it unblinkingly which was harder than usual due to her fatigue, absently she wondered if maybe she should've waited a bit longer after all. Mist started to form inside the orb, shrouding the future from those lucky enough to have an inner eye that stayed closed. She started to move her free hand over it, gently as if parting water around her which should in reality part the mist.

Except it didn't, instead the mist started to darken as if she'd poured in some ink and she was actually just mixing it into what had previously been clear water. The mist soured like pure white clouds becoming dark and stormy, she was so focused on staring at it that the dark was seeping into the vision outside the crystal, the black clouds inside the orb seemed instead to be all around her.

She started to hear sound, muffled voices she couldn't quite make out as if she was listening underwater. Images were trying to form through the clouds but they were blurry and buried in the clouds, she felt a strange, sharp and very distant pain followed by some kind of shout. Abruptly the images were severed by a blinding flash of light that obliterated whatever the crystal was trying to show her.

 _Molly found herself standing on the edge of a forest at evening, the cold sun sinking into the bloodstained sky off into the horizon. Empty land was stretched out before her and distantly she saw the ruins of what had once been some town or city, she had no idea what it had been called but it was just a pile of rubble now. They should probably try scavenging it for supplies, they'd have to start doing that because that was going to be their life now._

 _She didn't have the strength left to even sigh, she just finished putting up her protective enchantments and moved back into the forest. It was colder and darker in there, the tall trees spearing the sky severing them from the sunlight. Her movements were sluggish, her body ached and she was so tired she felt as though insects were crawling across her eyeballs._

 _Thankfully she didn't have far to walk and was soon back at the clearing, back at what she supposed was their 'camp.' She'd set up a small fire beside a felled tree, she had a tent but it was still in her bag of supplies by the fire though she doubted she'd use it until they got out of the country. They had to get out of the country as soon as possible, ideally they should probably not even be resting right now but they were only human. 'They' consisting of only two other people, there were more survivors then them – though still not many - but they couldn't be around Gray right now because Gray just wasn't good for Oathan._

 _She glanced at their last hope, no longer an adult vision but a living six year old boy. He was sitting on the log, warming his small hands on the flames. She approached him, though made sure to spare Flan a look as she sat beside Oathan, Flan was sitting on the stump further off and was holding his head in his bloodstained hands. It wasn't his blood._

 _"Did you finish putting up your spells?" Oathan asked of her almost fearfully, the fragile tone a far cry from the strength of his adult self._

 _"Yeah," Molly confirmed for him, holding her own hands out to the fire for warmth and noticed the flames reflecting off the metal of her charm bracelet. A wave of sadness hit her and she put her hands down quickly, at least one of them needed to keep it together right now or they would join… most everyone else they cared about, "We should be safe for now."_

 _"Okay," Oathan muttered, his violet eyes shifting focus to Flan who hadn't moved and gave no indication of hearing them, "Is he going to be okay?"_

 _"Yeah, we just need to give him some space right now," Molly offered equally quietly, even though Flan probably wasn't listening nor would care if he was, "His whole family is dead, he's going to need some time to grieve."_

 _"Okay," Oathan said, his expression and tone both solemn as he hung his head._

 _"Are you going to be okay?" Molly asked gently, putting a comforting arm around him and he cuddled against her willingly, "We still have potions if you don't feel good."_

 _"I'm just tired," Oathan admitted quietly, "I feel like I should be sad or worried but I just feel so tired."_

 _"We all are, Oathan, we all are," Molly told him quite truthfully, maybe exhaustion was better than crippling depression, "I have some sleeping bags, we need to get some rest while we can. We'll need to get out of the country before its locked down completely so tomorrow is probably going to be a long day, a really long day."_

 _"Okay, Molly, I trust you."_

"Molly!" a voice cried out suddenly in concern and Molly's eyes snapped open, she hadn't even realized they'd been closed. It was Flan's voice she realized when more words followed, "Molly?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Molly called back immediately, wondering why he was worried and noticed she was no longer holding the crystal ball, her body had also slumped slightly. Had she fallen asleep? She picked herself up quickly, grabbing up the puzzle box and exiting the secret room to see Flan standing there with a look of concern, "Where's the fire?"

"This just rolled out from the wall and I got worried," Flan explained and held up his hand, the crystal ball clasped in his scarred fingers, "Did you pass out?"

"I… I don't know," Molly admitted, "I was trying to use the ball and I think I fell asleep, whatever I almost saw wasn't coming through clearly and then I had this dream, or a vision. It wasn't cryptic like usual."

"What was it about?" Flan asked, seeming to relax a little.

"You and me with Oathan, after the end," Molly told him though stopped herself from elaborating, she didn't feel like telling him in the vision he'd been grieving for his dead family, "I got the letter, we should get back."

"As you wish."

* * *

Scorpius hung around the base for longer then he meant to, he ran into Latimer again when going to leave and he convinced him to work on his apparation. Oliva Nott joined him as a mentor and they moved further off from the base where there were no anti-apparation enchantments, she settled on a tree stump in the shade with her four month old daughter, Lydia, also the child of his late friend Vern Dursley. Despite being in the year below him and having her education interrupted by the pregnancy and birth of her child, Olivia was quite adept at apparating.

He continued to fail however, her advice and encouragement about as useful as anyone else's had ever been. He found he didn't feel as bad as he usually did for his failure however, with everything Brutus had told him still rolling around in his mind he wasn't surprised he couldn't get it. It was also hard to stay in a bad mood with Lydia giggling every few minutes, thoroughly amused by the magical rattle she was playing with that kept playing different sounds. Olivia didn't seem mad at him either, though Scorpius wasn't sure if she was aware of the role his leaving had played or if she was simply being nice to him to be positive in front of the baby.

"D- D- Don't worry," Lamb offered encouragingly when apparating them back, "A- Apparation is tough, I'm sur- sure you'll g- get the hang of it."

"Thanks," Scorpius took the encouragement though remained dubious, becoming an _animagi_ had been less difficult then this despite the fact few wizards mastered it and it was considered more difficult than apparation which most wizards mastered. They returned to Hogan's house and with Brutus' words about his family weighing on his mind, he knew who to seek out first, "Hey Myriam."

"Hey Scorpius," Myriam greeted him as he found her in the kitchen working on dinner.

"Need any help?"

"Yeah actually, if you could get some plates out. This is almost done."

"Can do," Scorpius agreed and started getting the plates, "It smells good."

"I should hope so, I have no chance of ever working again as a chef otherwise," Myriam told him, her tone pleasantly joking.

"I suppose not," Scorpius confirmed as he counted out the number of plates they'd need and laid them out on the empty countertop, "So… does your offer still stand to take me to my parents?"

"Of course, is your schedule finally open?"

"Well I do have to do this thing for Hermione, hopefully I can get it out of the way tomorrow. I'm not sure how long it'll take."

"Well if you're done soon enough we'll go tomorrow afternoon then, if not we'll just go the day after, that alright?"

"Sounds good," Scorpius agreed as she started dishing the food out onto the plate.

* * *

 _Molly wandered around the edge of the clearing, putting up protective enchantments with trembling hands. Ideally she'd prefer to give them a larger safe area but she didn't want to go too far from Oathan or drag the child along with her, ideally Flan would be here to stay with Oathan but… he hadn't made it. Despite not being the person closest to her that she'd lost, she found his death had shaken her the most. She'd expected to lose everyone if they lost, everyone but him. She'd felt the weight of the world on her shoulders for a long time but with his death, she felt as though she was shouldering the full weight alone for the first time and it was brutally crushing._

 _She lowered her wand and rubbed at her grit-soaked eyes, they needed to get out of the country but her body was so shattered she knew she needed sleep, especially if she was flying solo. She finished putting up the enchantments and walked back over to Oathan, the last hope they had. Her insides quivered with anxiety as she watched the little boy huddled over the fire she'd conjured, he was still weak and would be for a long time. Would she really be able to protect him by herself? And maybe something even more concerning, what did she know about raising a child? Let alone one that the fate of the world rested on? Being a Weasley, she was certainly familiar with children but that wasn't the same as raising them, Flan was the one with kid. And some kind of muggle degree in psychology._

 _"How you doing?" Molly asked of him gently as she sat her aching body down next to him, well aware she was sporting many minor injuries but she was too tired to care. Or maybe several months of torture had just upped her tolerance, "I have potions in the bag if you don't feel good."_

 _"I think I'm okay, I'm just tired. Really tired," Oathan admitted, he looked it too but he tired very easily still with his fragile heart, "I know I didn't even do anything and I feel like I should be sad or worried or something but I just feel tired."_

 _"It's okay, Oathan, I'm tired too," Molly told him truthfully and put a comforting arm around him, he cuddled against her willingly. She thought maybe the exhaustion was a blessing in disguise, she shouldn't complain her brain was too tired to dwell on the overwhelming loss. She had to be strong for Oathan right now or they truly had lost, everything everyone had fought and died for would be for naught. Damn the world was heavy, "I have some sleeping bags, we'll roll them out and get some rest while we can. We'll need to get out of the country before its locked down completely so tomorrow is probably going to be a long day, a really long day."_

 _"Okay, Molly, I trust you."_

* * *

Scorpius wasn't sure whether to be surprised that Varanian didn't come back that night, it wasn't uncommon of late but he had been a bit better at it. At any rate it was inconvenient, he'd wanted to ask him about letting his family into Gray. After all, if what Brutus had said was accurate then just seeing them wasn't going to help.

He was true to his word about what he'd said to Myriam, after breakfast he had Lamb take him over to the Embry's where he hoped to get those addresses from Hermione. With any luck she'd also have Rojer's address because he had even more to discuss with the old alchemist in light of the conversation with Brutus, if she didn't he hoped doing her errand would encourage her to do his. Thankfully, he located her fairly easily reading over some papers in the Embry's kitchen and nibbling on some crackers.

"Hey Hermione," Scorpius greeted her readily, "Did you get those addresses for me?"

"Oh hello Scorpius, and yes," Hermione said as she noticed his presence and gestured for him to take a seat beside her, which he did and her saw her frown as she withdrew a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him, "Unfortunately, I learned his paternal grandfather was killed in the most recent Shadow attack- I have informed Sebastian. That leaves him as the last Libra, the only other family he has is all maternal, the Selwyns."

"Sebastian's maternal family are the _Selwyns_?" Scorpius spluttered out in surprise he realized he shouldn't really feel, he knew them to be quite a large family, "As in related to the Shadow Selwyn?"

"Yes, the Shadow would be his uncle, though I doubt very much they've ever met considering Maverick Selwyn had been on the run since the Second Wizarding War. Though speaking of him, you should probably notify his father – Abel, I believe it was - of his death while you're there."

"I guess I can do that. So what family does he have?"

"We need only ask the immediate family who obviously aren't in jail so Sebastian's grandfather, aunt, uncle and great-grandparents. You'll actually only have to speak to three of them though, his aunt's husband works for the Ministry and I was able to ask him myself yesterday when finding out the addresses," Hermione explained and Scorpius glanced over the list of names and addresses briefly, there were too crossed out names he could only assume were the aunt and dead grandfather. He didn't see Rojer's name though, "As expected, he wasn't interested."

"What do I do if any of them are interested?"

"Tell them you'll inform the Ministry and they'll process their request, don't leave Sebastian with them even if he goes with you," Hermione shrugged it off dismissively and went back to reading her own papers, "Considering his circumstances and what his sister – who was in Selwyn custody – wound up doing, they'll need to go through a lengthy vetting process before they could have Sebastian. In the meantime, he'll be free to stay with Gray since we fulfilled our end of the bargain of _attempting_ to reunite him. Though as I said, I don't expect any yeses."

"Noted," Scorpius confirmed, tucking the paper away to give to Lamb- the werewolf had stopped to speak to Hogan, "Did you get Rojer's address?"

"Ah, I knew there was something I was forgetting. Sorry, I'll get it for you later."

"Alright," Scorpius said as he stood, "I'll see you later then."

Scorpius left her in the kitchen and went back into the dining room turned infirmary, Antonius was still unconscious – though Hogan assured them he would waken soon – and Albus was being fussed over by Abby as usual. He would probably spend a little time with them before he left but first he wanted to see whether Sebastian wanted to come with him so he instead turned to the young werewolf, resting in the bed opposite Antonius was red rimmed eyes as if he'd been crying.

"Hey Sebastian," Scorpius greeted the boy kindly, he sat up a little straighter and wiped at his eyes, "You okay?"

"Hermione told me that my grandfather…" Sebastian told him timidly, trailing off as his lip started quivering. He still avoided meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius offered sympathetically, realizing he actually could relate to the death of a grandfather.

"Thank you," Sebastian muttered, wiping at his eyes again, "Did she send you?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be visiting your family to see if they want you to live with them, wondered if you'd like to come. It's perfectly fine if you don't want to-"

"I want to," Sebastian interrupted, Scorpius supposed he might be keen to see them after just learning of his grandfather's death. He glanced guiltily over at Antonius though and also oddly Marigold, "Will… Will I be able to come back though? I'm worried about Anton, I don't really want to leave…"

"Oh don't worry, even if they say yes you'll have to come back here because they have to speak to the Ministry first or something," Scorpius explained and the boy looked relieved, "We also don't have to leave right now this second if you want to wait a bit, double check with Hogan too."

"Okay."

* * *

 _Oathan Loren lay on the ground in the ruins of some building, a threadbare blanket doing little to mask the hard ground beneath him. He was hardly alone here either, the surviving adults – and teenagers - had left the surviving children in here while they were in the other ruined room. Whether they were resting, discussing their options or something else he wasn't sure. It was hard to even care, none of the people he actually cared about had survived and he still had no idea if Vathan lived was even alive anymore. He wasn't alone but he very much felt it now, he'd only just started to shake the feeling._

 _Some of the kids were sleeping, either dropping from exhaustion or forced into it from the adults– some of them had been hysterical. Some were still awake, he could hear some sniffling as sobbing spells had come to an end and the blond girl – Cassia – pacing around the room. He thought they'd probably all be dead without her and her birds, of all the kids who'd stepped up to defend the others after their adult protectors died she had held out the longest before more returned from their loss._

 _He'd tried to help as well but… he was still weak, he felt like he'd barely done anything but had been drained of almost every shred of strength he had and his heart hurt so badly he thought he might be dying. A Healer had looked at him, given him something. The pain had eased but it still hurt a lot, he was aware of each and every painful beat of his heart. It was preventing him from sleeping so he was left weak and exhausted but unable to rest, just huddled uncomfortably on his side with his hand clutching at his chest. He almost hoped he would die, he didn't want to be here with these lunatics and his father's killer chilling in the next room._

 _He didn't have the strength to leave now though, he was trapped._

* * *

Scorpius almost regretted asking Sebastian to come as it put him off schedule, he'd much rather have gotten it over with to give himself time to go to his parents but Sebastian seemed content to take his time and it would be rude to rush him after assuring him he could take his time. He hadn't expected _this_ much time though.

By the time he'd calmed down Hogan had left to – presumably – deal with Oathan and Sebastian wanted to get his specific okay, by the time Hogan returned and confirmed Sebastian was fine – or at least fine enough to travel – it was close enough to lunch that Sebastian wanted to wait for that then once lunch was finished, Sebastian insisted on helping with the clean up because he wanted to be useful now he was allowed to be on his feet again. After that Sebastian wanted to have a shower to be clean for when he met his family, he then spent far too long agonizing over what to wear out of the like three options the Embry's presented for him.

Scorpius wasn't sure if he was mentally trying to psych himself up to see his family or what, either way he spent far more time with his friends then he'd expected and unfortunately Antonius remained unconscious. Finally though, the three of them were on their way. Scorpius decided to save the grandfather until last since he also had to tell him about his dead Shadow son but opted to ask Sebastian if he had a preference between the uncle or the great-grandparents first.

"Uncle Eleazar," Sebastian answered immediately and started rubbing at the scar on his temple, a smile playing on his lips as if was trying to remember, "He used to be really nice, he… he used to sneak us sweets behind Mother's back and take us to a muggle park near his house."

"How lovely," Scorpius said despite the chill that gone through him at the mention of a muggle park, irrationally he wondered if this guy had been complicit in his abduction.

"His wife not so much though."

Lamb – who Scorpius had long since handed over the list to when he thought it wouldn't take them four hours to leave – put a hand on each of their shoulders once they were far enough from the Embry's house, apparating them before Scorpius could dwell on this further. They reappeared in a quaint cul-de-sac, the roads wide and curvy, and the front yards nicely spacious. Scorpius hadn't even finished taking in his bearings before he noticed Sebastian heading off towards a particular house, he and Lamb hastened to keep up behind them. As they drew closer, Scorpius realized he could hear the sound of children's laughter and playing coming from inside the house.

Sebastian stopped in front of the door, rocking back and forth on his heels nervously so Scorpius took the inactive to use the golden serpent knocker. After a few minutes and a hasty trampling of footsteps, the door was opened by a bedraggled looking skinny man in his mid-thirties, on his hip was chubby winging toddler trying to tug on his mop of raven-black hair. A hair color the girl shared though hers was tied in a neat purple bow, he tried to pry her hand off him and seemed oblivious to the dried vomit stain on the shoulder of his black robes.

"He- Wow, hi Sebastian," the man started when he saw the young werewolf, his bagged eyes widening in surprise.

"H- Hi Uncle Eleazar," Sebastian offered sheepishly, his gaze on the ground.

"Da-daaaa!" the toddler whined as he pried her hand off.

"It's good to see you're alive, I wasn't sure when I heard about Hog-" Eleazar started to say before seeming being distracted by the loud thundering of footsteps from inside, he turned back to inside the house briefly, "I just told you not to run in the house!"

"Yes, Daddy!" children's voices chorused from inside but they didn't seem to slow down.

"Sorry about that," Eleazar muttered while the toddler started trying to tug at his ear instead and started crying when he batted her little hands away, "Anyway, where were we? Why are you here?"

"To see if you want to take Sebastian in," Scorpius provided and the man glanced at him for the first time in surprise, he opened his mouth but was again distracted by his own house.

"Eleazar!" a woman's voice came in a tone of annoyance and even the toddler stopped crying to listen interestedly, "The children are bothering me!"

"I'm answering the door, dear!" Eleazar yelled back into the house before glancing back to them, from inside Scorpius heard howls of children's laughter, "I'm sorry, did you say you wanted me to take Sebastian in?"

"Yes," Sebastian confirmed and Scorpius noticed he had crossed his fingers behind his back, Eleazar looked sympathetic.

"Eleazar! Come deal with these brats!" the woman's voice yelled again angrily.

"In a minute!" Eleazar shouted back irritably while the toddler started playing with the collar of his robe, he looked back to his nephew, "Look, Sebastian-"

"Dad! I finished my numeracy, can I have my cookie now?!" a girl's voice interrupted from inside.

"Only if you get your siblings to stop bothering your mother!" Eleazar called back and there was a 'humph' of annoyance from the girl followed by stomping footsteps, he tried once more to address his nephew, "Look Sebastian, you know I'd love to take you but I can't. Your great-grandfather… well you know how he is, if I took you then he'd disown me and I'd lose everything, you wouldn't even be able to stay with me anyway. I have four kids to take care of and another on the way, I can't afford to upset him."

"That's pretty selfish of you," Scorpius complained of him, scowling irritably which Eleazar seemed to ignore.

"I understand, Uncle Eleazar," Sebastian said, despite looking disheartened.

"Look on the bright side," Eleazar offered, sounding as if he was trying to be positive and put his free hand on Sebastian's shoulder comfortingly which actually had the small boy look up hopefully, "Elias is old and he can't live forever, soon as he kicks the bucket I'll be the new patriarch and we won't have to worry about his rules anymore. Then I'll take of you, I promise. I-"

 _Smash!_

"ELEAZAR!" the woman screamed so furiously that her husband actually flinched, there was another chorus of children's shrieks of laughter and a stampede of footsteps.

"Look, it's been great seeing you Sebastian but erm… I really need to go deal with that," Eleazar told him and quickly disappeared back into the house, "Coming, dear!"

The three of them turned and walked carefully away from the door, distantly inside the house Scorpius thought he could hear the woman's angry yells. He glanced at Sebastian, he was still hanging his head but considering his aversion to eye contact it was hard to tell if he was upset.

"I'm sorry about your uncle," Scorpius offered as they made their way back to the pavement, it was better to make sure they were out of range of any anti-apparation spells most wizards had to varying degrees on their homes.

"I expected it," Sebastian shrugged dismissively, "You ready to meet my great-grandparents? They're not as nice as Uncle Eleazar, Daddy used to tell me not to listen to them."

Scorpius said nothing but from what little he'd gathered about them from the uncle and what he knew about the high pure-blood society his family had stopped being a part of, he figured Sebastian's father had probably been a good man.

Lamb apparated them once more and this time it was not a neighborhood, it was a manor house out in the countryside. He was reminded painfully of his home and how much he would rather be seeing his family right now, maybe he'd still have time if all these rejections were so short. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, it was fairly common for pureblood families to have homes such as these and these people struck him as traditional. It was very regal and very dark but in an excellent state of repair he would admit, probably more than his own in fact.

They strode up the steps to the stone steps to the large oak doors, a particular crest was ingrained into them and Scorpius could only presume it was the Selwyn family crest. Once more Sebastian didn't knock but this time he was standing completely still, he also held himself upright and straight in a very formal way. Scorpius rapped on the wood with the serpent knocker to alert the inhabitants to his presence, the door opened much faster than Eleazar had but he was momentarily surprised to see no one. He looked around in confusion then down and saw a house-elf had opened it, which made sense. The house-elf was dressed in miniature dress robes, they looked very exquisite and even seemed to have custom embroidery if the 'T' on his right pocket was anything to go by.

"Yes?" the house-elf greeted him in a rather gravelly voice for his species, somehow managing to look down his nose at them despite being shorter then even Sebastian.

"Hey Tippy," Sebastian offered in recognition though the house-elf didn't look impressed, "We're here to see my great-grandparents."

"They are not here, Master Sebastian, they went to a luncheon with friends," the house-elf – presumably Tippy - explained readily, continuing to scowl at them despite his polite tone, "Tippy can handle any inquiries visitors have."

"We'd like to know if your masters would be interested in taking Sebastian in," Scorpius informed him, "Do you know when they'll return?"

"No need to wait for their returning, Tippy knows the answer is no. The Ministry already asked and the answer was no, Tippy's masters' minds have not changed on this matter. Tippy is most certain."

"Thanks Tippy," Sebastian offered.

"Well if they change their mind, let the Ministry know," Scorpius added, not really expecting them to but he wasn't sure taking an answer from a house-elf was satisfactory enough.

"Tippy will. Now get off Selwyn property," Tippy told them and snapped his fingers.

In a bang, Scorpius immediately felt his body launched through space and before he could blink was standing outside the fence. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the front door slamming shut behind them.

"Woah," Lamb said unsteadily, "Wha- Wh- What was that th- th- thing?!"

"House-elf," Scorpius and Sebastian answered in unison but it was Sebastian who elaborated, "Lots of pureblood families have them to take care of chores, we never did but my great-grandparents have a couple though one of them takes care of my grandfather."

"Why? Is he sick?" Scorpius asked curiously as they moved a little way from the Selwyn's property just to be on the safe side.

"No, he's just…" Sebastian started to answer and trailed off, scratching at the scar on his temple as he seemed to struggle to think of the right word, "Mother used to say he was too weak to take care of himself but its more like he's just… sad."

"He's… sad?"

"You'll see," Sebastian shrugged before Lamb apparated them to their final destination, as long as this didn't take long then Scorpius thought he'd definitely have time to see his folks.


	21. IIX: Selwyn Surprise

The last house was again isolated with a dark theme but it was certainly no grand manor, it wasn't a small house but definitely not a large one. It was also the most unkempt, despite the stubby stone wall surrounding it he could already see overgrown weeds poking through the gaps in the fence. As they approached the house, Scorpius saw the garden was indeed rife with weeds and wild flowers – he wasn't entirely sure of the difference – though some were barely visible amongst the seemingly knee high grass, it was rather contrasting against the home which was certainly no country cottage.

Scorpius looked at Sebastian, he didn't seem either nor formal and stood casually as he eyed the door curiously before knocking. They waited a minute but there was no response, despite the fact Scorpius thought he could faintly hear sniffling coming from further inside. Thinking he just might not have heard Sebastian's knock – the boy was quite small – Scorpius knocked himself, much louder than Sebastian had.

Silence.

"Grandfather? Grandfather, are you th-" Sebastian started to call out but stopped as there was a loud thud from inside the house, the sound of wood smacking against floorboard. He glanced at Scorpius worriedly, "Do you think he's ok-"

"Stay behind me," Scorpius hissed at him, having already withdrawn his wand and cast _Alohomora_ to get the door open. His first thought was the Shadows though he wasn't sure why they'd be after Sebastian's grandfather, maybe it was just common thieves or something?

At any rate, he pushed himself into the house warily with his wand brandished to deal with any threats and had to blink a few times to adjust to the gloom. Inside was much darker – the shutters all seemed drawn – but also neat, evidently the house-elf still took care of the inside as it looked so immaculate it barely looked lived in, let alone disturbed by intruders. Scorpius moved further in past the front room as a _Homenum Revelio_ revealed it empty, he thought he heard someone choking as he made his way to the next room which was also locked. They had to be in there. Scorpius unlocked it nonverbally and kicked open the door, wand raised to hopefully take the intruders by surprise but _he_ was the one taken by surprise at what he saw.

There was only one person there and he was hanging from the chandelier, his face started to go blue from the rope choking the life from him. A chair had been kicked out beneath him which had probably been the sound they'd heard, it was a dining room but the table and other chairs had been moved aside to grant access to the chandelier. Scorpius heard a shocked gasp from behind him as he cast a non-verbal _Diffindo_ at the rope, cutting it down so the man fell awkwardly – and probably painfully – back to the ground on the chair, gasping as air flooded back into his lungs.

"Grandfather!" Sebastian cried out as he ran to the man, moving the chair out of the way and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Grandfather, are you okay?!"

Scorpius exchanged an awkward glance with Lamb who'd come up to stand beside him, he wasn't sure what to do in this situation and Lamb looked just about as clueless. He didn't _think_ he would need healing, he hoped not because he didn't know any and wasn't even sure where to take him if he did. His skin was losing the unhealthy hue though, Sebastian was still looking incredibly distressed and on the verge of tears.

"Grandfather…" Sebastian whimpered as his lip quivered, seeming as unsure what to say as the rest of them as the man – Abel, according to Hermine's notes – opened his mouth to try saying what Scorpius would've expected to be some kind of reassurance for Sebastian but once more he was proven spectacularly wrong.

" _What did you go and do that for?!_ " Abel shrieked at Scorpius accusingly, his voice cracking and tears seeped from his slate gray eyes, "Do you know how long I had to pretend to be okay for that bloody house-elf to leave me alone this time?! Do you have any idea how hard that is?! Why would you _do_ this to me?! What did I ever do to _you_?!"

"What was I supposed to do?! Let you die?!" Scorpius insisted incredulously.

"Yes!" Abel cried adamantly before burying his face in his hands and sobbing broken, Scorpius sighed and cast another Severing Charm to get the noose off him completely.

"Grandfather…" Sebastian said again, still looking very distressed and tried to rub his grandfather's shaking shoulder in a soothing way, "It… It's okay…"

Scorpius watched them awkwardly, inexplicably remembering he also needed to tell this guy about his son's death. He suddenly found himself wishing he'd brought Leebin along, aside from committing him to St Mungo's he wasn't even sure what other options wizards had. These things weren't talked of, _especially_ in pureblood society. His gaze shifted around unsurely, at a loss of how to handle the situation and wasn't helped by Lamb who was moving the severed rope away from Abel and fixing the chair. The only other furniture in the dining room and was a cabinet very close to them, there was an odd assortment of photographs on. It was odd because they were overly cluttered, there was far too many of them for the space there and they were all angled specifically towards Abel instead naturally facing out to the room like normal photographs.

He found himself having to do a double take however as for a second he thought Varanian was in one of the pictures, as he moved closer he saw he was mistaken as a teenaged Abel was also in the picture dating it as too old for Varanian. Aside from the fact many Selwyns seemed to have the same tall but lanky frame as Varanian, this man had mismatched eyes and despite his hair being jet black hair, it had the same short scruffy texture as Varanian and the cocky smirk he wore was eerily similar, or maybe he was just misremembering because he hadn't Varanian smile in a while. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties in this one, Scorpius identified the man in a few more where he was younger but there were none where he was older.

All the pictures seemed to be of Abel's family, he recognized younger images of Sebastian and his murderous sister Lauren, Eleazar and the toddler, even much younger pictures of the Shadow Selwyn. There were others he didn't recognize but from family resemblance and age, he could at least guess how they connected to Abel- he thought the man he'd mistaken for Varanian was likely an elder brother for instance. He wasn't sure whether it disturbed him more or less to think Abel had attempted suicide surrounded by pictures of his family, many of whom Scorpius knew still lived.

"Sebastian?" Abel's surprised voice exclaimed and Scorpius turned back to them, he seemed to have calmed down enough to notice his grandchild, "You're alive?"

"Um… yeah?" Sebastian confirmed awkwardly and Abel looked confused.

"I heard Hogwarts fell?"

"It did, I just… got out."

"Oh, well that's good," Abel commented and put his arm around Sebastian, his expression was clouding over with misery once more though, "Not that it matters, my boy, the world is ending. We're all going to die anyway."

"H- Hey, y- you don't know that!" Lamb spoke up defensively, "Gr- Gray is g- g- going to win."

"Gray has put up a good fight but I don't think even Philip can stop a woman who can destroy cities with a snap of her fingers."

"I don't think it's _quite_ that fast," Sebastian muttered but Scorpius had been taken aback by something else.

"I'm sorry, did you just call Varanian ' _Philip_?'" Scorpius wondered incredulously and Abel looked suddenly angry.

"It's his name!" Abel insisted with acrid words, glaring daggers as his lips took a malicious sneer reminiscent of his Shadow son. When combined with his tearstained face and red rimmed eyes, he looked quite mad, "I refuse to call him by the _other_ one those murderers gave him, Varanians are murderers. They murdered my brother, they framed him and they murdered him and they covered it up. It was all lies and they knew it! They-"

"It's just that he prefers 'Pip,'" Scorpius decided to cut off the increasingly insane sounding rant, Abel ogled him with sudden interest, "I've never known anyone refer to him by his full name."

"Really?" Abel wondered, seeming oddly pleased by this before surprise seemed to slap him in the face again, "Wait, you actually _know_ him?"

"Yeah, they're from Gray," Sebastian provided for him.

" _Really?_ " Abel reiterated more excitedly before his fall in confusion again then suddenly turn to terror, "Wait, why are Gray here?"

"Th-"

"I'm not a Shadow!" Abel shrieked in panic, looking close to crying again, "I'm not! I don't know anything, I have nothing to do with those lunatics-"

"I believe you!" Scorpius cut him off, truthfully too as Abel did not strike him as Shadow material. The old man relaxed a little, twitching a little fearfully though, "We're not here for that."

"Well good because I'm _not_. Contrary to what the Ministry seem determined to believe, most purebloods aren't even supportive of the Shadow Master the same way they were of her father. I don't know anything- I don't even have a wand! I'm completely worthless, what would I even _do_ -"

"You don't have a wand?"

"They took it off me, thought I might hurt myself," Abel stated with a dismissively vague gesture, Scorpius could only assume he meant his family which admittedly made sense if he was suicidal. He scowled in confusion, "But if you're not here to torture me then why _are_ you here? What could you possibly want from _me_ of all people? I'm nothing."

"We're here to see if you're interested in taking Sebastian in," Scorpius asked, deciding to start with that and Abel immediately looked to his grandson.

"Sebastian, you know your great-grandparents won't allow that."

"You're… You're an _adult!_ " Scorpius spluttered out incredulously, the man had to be in his mid to late sixties despite the stubborn black still mixed into his thick mop of scruffy gray hair, "You're a father- you're a _grandfather_ , why do you care what your _parents_ say!?"

"I don't know how it is for you Malfoys but look around you," Abel told him, gesturing to their surroundings, "You see this house? And all of this furniture? And all of these decorations?"

"What about them?!"

"None of it is mine! It all belongs to my parents, I don't even own the clothes on my back," Abel pointed out, plucking at his dark satin robe and making Scorpius notice he had marks on his neck from the rope… Scorpius didn't know how to heal them, "The patriarch controls all the family wealth, everyone else does what they say or you get cut off and thrown onto the street with nothing. Undesirable family members are not even to be spoken of, let alone contacted and certainly not taken into their property. Werewolves are naturally not considered desirable family members, I'm sorry Sebastian."

"S- Seems a pr- pretty l- lousy system," Lamb pointed out.

"I didn't invent it!" Abel snapped defensively, throwing a dark look at Lamb, "Nor did I say I like it but its how things are, if you hadn't noticed life is comprised entirely out of these intricately twisted systems designed to screw you over. So if that's all, feel free to leave me now."

"We can't leave you alone right now!" Sebastian protested flabbergasted and gave Scorpius a desperately pleading look as if scared he would really leave the suicidal man alone, just because his son was an evil bastard it didn't mean he had issues with Abel. He had the strange urge to check on Latimer though.

"Of course we won't," Scorpius confirmed, much to the young werewolf's relief while Abel gave a wail of despair and buried his face in his hands again, "Didn't you say something about a house-elf? We'll wait until they get back... We're also supposed to inform you of your son's death."

"Which one?" Abel demanded, his head shooting back up anxiously.

"Erm… How many do you have?" Scorpius wondered as he tried to recall what the Shadow's first name was because 'Selwyn' wasn't going to narrow it down.

"Two sons- three if you count the illegitimate one- and two daughters."

"The one who was a Shadow… Maverick?" Scorpius half-told him and half-asked as he was unsure on the name.

"Ah."

"You don't seem very upset?" Scorpius prompted, wondering if he'd gotten the first name wrong.

"I mourned for Maverick a long time ago," Abel shrugged sadly, gazing off pensively at nothing, "Running around with the Death Eaters and the Shadows… you know it's only a matter of time. It was all my fault anyway, he was so angry about the divorce – he and your mother both actually, Sebastian, I think the other two were too young to understand though – and then their mother went and died which made it even worse… I hope his death wasn't too painful."

"Err…"

" _Don't tell me how he died!_ " Abel shrieked, actually putting his hands over his ears childishly and squeezing his eyes shut – as if that would help – though tears seeped through the cracks, "I don't want to know…"

"We won't," Sebastian reassured him, patting his grandfather's arm awkwardly again and looking rather desperate to sooth him somehow, "I love you, Grandfather."

" _If you loved me then you'd let me die!_ " Abel snapped at him angrily through his tears, making the boy look extremely hurt but Abel seemed oblivious to this as he just broke down crying again. Scorpius sighed inwardly, feeling at a loss. He didn't think it was good for Sebastian to be around his grandfather right now but tearing him away seemed bad too, it also wasn't like he was willing to leave Abel alone until his house-elf guardian returned, "You shouldn't even _be_ here, this is trespassing-"

"Somehow I don't think the Ministry would mind," Scorpius muttered bitterly, realizing also he was unlikely to get to his own family today too if they were babysitting Abel.

"Of course they wouldn't, they hate purebloods! They'd just lock me up in the permanent ward in St Mungo's, or wherever they lock people up now that it's destroyed…" Abel sniffed, seeming to be trying to calm down as he rocked backwards and forwards a little, "I'm fine… I'm fine…"

* * *

 _Flannery Leebin apparated them both to the forest clearing, half-surprised and almost impressed he didn't splinch himself considering he was barely focused on the half-remembered location as it was. He shivered slightly as the cool evening breeze brushed his cheek but the temperature drop was welcome, he'd rather feel cold then continue to feel the heat from the flames consuming his family's corpses._

 _His insides lurched at that thought, his legs trembled unsteadily and might've buckled if not for Oathan. The young child's hand was clasped within his own and served as a small yet strong anchor to keep him focused, keep him together when all he wanted to do was break down. The kid needed him. With Molly's death, he was the only person who could take care of him and it was important he was taken care of as he was the last hope and blah blah blah. Flan knew all that but the paternal instinct compelling him to care for the feeble child was a better driver right now._

 _He led Oathan around the clearing, listening carefully for any signs of Shadows or danger and peering through the thick tree trunks for the same. He wasn't going to be able to put up enchantments and he daren't leave Oathan alone right now so this was the best he could do, or maybe just the best his fried brain could manage right now. At any rate, he was met with still silence all around._

 _They needed to get out of the country but he didn't think Oathan was up to that right now, he wasn't even sure he was up to that right now. The torrent of grief was doing a good job insulating him from the fatigue he felt and ever-present aches he had to push himself through but he knew rest would be good for him too, as long as that same torrent allowed him to._

 _He led Oathan to the middle of the clearing where a felled tree made for a good bench, he seated them both down on it and swung the – thankfully weightless – bag of supplies off his back which was also magically expanded inside. There were sleeping bags he should get out but he decided he would see how Oathan was first, the boy had been very quiet._

 _"How are you doing?" Flan asked of his charge gently, touching his arm and drawing the boy's violet eyes to him._

 _"I'm okay," Oathan answered quietly and too quickly for it to be true, he fidgeted a little awkwardly as if struggling to think of what to say, "Are… Are you? I mean, I um… I'm really sorry, about your family."_

 _"Oh," Flan uttered, feeling as if he'd been kicked in the stomach while images of their lifeless faces tried to seep behind his eyelids but he quickly composed himself and at least attempted a grateful smile. After all, empathy was certainly a trait he wanted to encourage, even if any reminder was extremely painful right now, "Thank you, Oathan. It hurts a lot but I'm doing alright, we just have to keep going, it's what th- they would want."_

 _"Okay," Oathan nodded and Flan tried to swallow the lump in his throat that had cracked his voice, he wasn't sure if it was tears or tiredness that was stinging his eyes more, "That's what I always think my dad would want."_

 _"I'm sure he would," Flan agreed encouragingly, "So are you sure you're okay?"_

 _"I'm tired," Oathan admitted a little reluctantly, looking a little guilty, "Really tired. I know I should feel more sad or worried but I just feel tired. I'm sorry."_

 _"You don't have to apologize for how you feel, Oathan, feelings can't be right or wrong and everyone deals with things differently so if you just feel tired then that's okay," Flan assured him and dug into the pack to get the sleeping bags, though he thought he'd stay watch for a little while before sleeping himself which he realized would've been so much easier if Molly or his family had survived. Morbidly he wondered whether his family had even had a chance or if she'd just implied they had to spare his feelings, he supposed he could never ask her now, "I have some sleeping bags here, there's also a tent I think but I'm not going to bother with that right now. Once we rest we'll need to get moving quickly, got to get of the country."_

 _"Okay," Oathan nodded again as Flan handed him the first sleeping bag he came across, something about the way he held himself gave Flan the sense he still had more to say._

 _"Is sleep all you need? There's some food and water in here if you need it, there's also some potions if you don't feel good," Flan pressed while he still had the bag open, he saw Oathan's eyes shift at the last one, "Is your heart hurting?"_

 _"Only a little," Oathan told him with a sigh, rubbing at his chest unhappily and Flan withdrew one of the potions to hand to him._

 _"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Flan reassured him as he handed over the small vial, Oathan drank the contents reluctantly, "You've just got to give yourself time to heal."_

 _"I guess so."_

 _"I know so."_

* * *

They ended up babysitting Abel all afternoon as he'd given his house-elf the whole afternoon off - the house-elf seemed rather angry to learn of the suicide attempt upon her return - Scorpius wasn't sure whether it was just because Abel was unstable but he struck him as being unused to company. They managed to calm him enough to coax him to the table for some tea, mostly trying to distract him from his depressive bursts because… well, he had no idea what else to do.

Abel had some interest in hearing Sebastian talk about his time in Hogwarts – Sebastian tactfully choosing to focus on the more mundane aspects – and a fascination with Gray, in particular a bizarre interest in Varanian, so Scorpius had the difficult task of trying to speak about them without actually saying much about them and he wasn't sure whether Abel's short attention span hindered or helped with this. At any rate, Scorpius was very glad when he could finally leave Abel in the house-elf's care. Unfortunately it was far too late to see his own family, seeing Abel's poor condition actually just made him want to see them even more.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Sebastian asked worriedly after Lamb apparated them back to the Embry's.

"I don't know," Scorpius had to admit, not sure whether he should've lied just then, "Is he normally like that?"

"I don't know, usually he's sad but I've never seen him… I didn't know he wanted to _die_ ," Sebastian answered, changing his sentence mid-way through and looking extremely upset again, "Why would he do that? I can't believe some of the things he said, what he did… I don't understand."

"D- Don't take what h- he said too se- seriously," Lamb offered gently as Gail Embry let them into the house, "H- He's cl- clearly v- very upset, not thinking straight and probably d- doesn't mean it."

"You think?" Sebastian wondered, moving back into the infirmary room with Lamb while Scorpius went to go find Hermione and ran into her on way down the stairs.

"Oh hey Scorpius, you were gone longer then I thought," Hermione greeted him in surprise and Scorpius started walking with her, "How did it go?"

"They all said no as you suspected," Scorpius admitted and hesitated, for a second recalling Abel's fearful crying of being locked up if the Ministry found out and wondering whether he _should_ even tell Hermione but ultimately shoved those thoughts aside. Whatever Hermione would do couldn't be worse then his current situation, surely, "There was something off with Abel though, Sebastian's grandfather."

"Let me guess, he reminded you of Varanian?"

"What?" Scorpius wondered, taken aback by both the question itself and the fact she'd thought to ask it, "A little but there were some pictures of this man - who I think was Abel's brother – who reminded me even more so, how did you _know_ that?"

"Because…" Hermione began and looked around as if to make sure they were alone before continuing, pulling him into an empty bedroom and flicking her wand with a quick Silencing Charm for good measure, "Varanian was adopted by his maternal grandparents, his biological father was Cain Selwyn who was indeed Abel's older brother."

"Wh- _Really?"_ Scorpius spluttered out in shock, though he supposed it _would_ explain a few things. It also raised a few more questions though, "Abel said his brother was murdered…"

"He was. Cain was a Death Eater, when he attacked his pregnant fiancée – a highly trained and uncommonly skilled Auror - she killed him in self-defense."

"I don't think Abel sees it that way."

"Well considering what happened afterwards, I suppose he could be right," Hermione shrugged and must've noticed the question burning Scorpius' tongue as she elaborated before he could ask, "A few years after that his mother, Hilda Varanian, had a mental breakdown. She was delusional and thought everyone was a Death Eater, killed two dozen innocent people before her grandfather put her down."

"Wow."

"Yes, and now you know why the Ministry was so skeptical of his sanity and stability."

"Bad blood…" Scorpius reiterated, recalling his grandfather – or great-grandfather, he supposed - ranting about it in Varanian's memories. No wonder Enoch was so paranoid about him turning evil, "There's bad blood in his veins."

"You could put it like that."

"He doesn't even know about this though," Scorpius realized, scowling at the unfairness of them judging him for something he wasn't even aware of.

"After having interacted with him, no, I don't believe he does."

"It would devastate him," Scorpius said, more to himself then to her. Considering he was suspecting Varanian's blood had something to do with unlocking Savas' secrets, this was particularly problematic, "He thinks his family are all heroic Aurors."

"He doesn't have to know, I certainly won't – and legally shouldn't – tell him," Hermione pointed out, flicking her wand again to get rid of the charm and going to leave, "I'll get Voltur's address for you soon, got busy today planning thing for the next alliance meeting."

"Wait!" Scorpius blurted out, "I didn't even tell you what I was going to say about Abel!"

"Oh, the Varanian thing wasn't it?" Hermione wondered as the closed the door, "I guess I jumped the gun a bit. What was up with Abel then?"

"We found him attempting suicide," Scorpius informed her and a look of mild surprise took her, "That's why we stayed so long until his house-elf got back from an afternoon off, we didn't think we should leave him alone. I don't… I'm not sure how these things are dealt with, I thought maybe you'd know."

"Well normally he'd be committed to St Mungo's."

"He was kind of afraid of that."

"I'll inform the appropriate authorities," Hermione told him thoughtfully, opening the door once more, "We're working so closely with muggles now that he might be able to get real and actually useful psychological help."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered though he wasn't sure if muggles would be helpful to a Selwyn, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement before leaving him alone.

He wandered back downstairs, still half in thought until he passed by Michael who gave him a cold look. They may not be on good terms but it did prompt him to go check on the friends he was on good terms with in the other room, it wasn't like he'd have time to visit his own family today. Albus was in good spirits and started excitedly telling him about how he'd been allowed to eat ice cream today before he was interrupted by an unexpected but pleasant surprise.

"He's waking up!" Cassia's voice cut through Albus' voice, it was the closet he'd heard her to her usual self since losing her father he realized.

The collective group – Albus, Abby, Sebastian and Scorpius - turned to join her in looking at the young Ashain and Scorpius actually moved away from Albus to be at Antonius' side, sure enough the boy was stirring. Antonius groaned as his eyes fluttered open carefully, he still looked half-asleep as the dark chestnut orbs swiveled around him. Finally, a fragile smile curled up the corners of his lips. Hope the dog – who was lying on the end of the bed - started wagging her tail enthusiastically.

"Hey Anton, how you doing?" Scorpius asked him gently as he tried to pull himself into a more upright position.

"Take it easy," Cassia urged her brother.

"I- I'm okay," Antonius told him a little shakily and looked relieved as he looked to his leg, "I was scared I'd wake up with no leg."

"As if we'd let that happen."

* * *

 _Cassia didn't telling twice, she hurried through the hollowed out cave walls and burst through the doors to the infirmary. It was a large room lined with beds for the injured – or sick – and had cabinets of their supply of healing potions on the other side, her shadowed dark chestnut eyes skimmed over the beds quickly. A few on the far right were occupied with fresh inhabitants but the left was where she spotted her charge, a handful of their healers pouring over him._

 _"Att!" she called as she crossed the distance between them to come to her child's side._

 _"Mom?" Atticus wondered, the ten year old gazing up at her half confused with identically shadowed dark chestnut eyes to her own before grimacing at some pain that likely had nothing to do with her, he was looking more pallid than usual, "Mom, I'm sorry. There was another ambush and Sally was using Stunners instead of killing again, I didn't notice one reviving his buddy until it was too late and he got me in the leg-"_

 _"Don't worry about that, Att," Cassia urged him gently, brushing a strand of extremely dark auburn hair from his face though in texture it was a wild mop like hers rather than neat and straight like his namesakes, "It's not your fault, I had warned her about that. Fucking Sally."_

 _"Sally died," one of the healers pointed out to which she threw her arms up in frustration, somehow even more annoyed by this._

 _"Fucking Sally!"_

 _"We still managed to get away with some supplies," Atticus provided weakly, grimacing in pain once again. She wished he hadn't inherited her allergy to the main ingredient in pain-killing potions, "It wasn't a total waste."_

 _"Cassia, a word," the lead Healer urged her and she gave her son a kiss on the forehead, expecting him to give her the rundown on the casualties._

 _"I'll be right back," Cassia assured her son as she tore herself from him to go speak to Siberius a few feet away, folding her arms as she did so and wishing she had a cigarette, "What?"_

 _"It was a Dark Curse that hit his leg-"_

 _"No shit," Cassia couldn't help but utter at the obvious statement, Siberius ignored this. He was a good guy._

 _"Bottom line is it destroyed a lot of muscles in his leg, we got rid of the curse but we can't fix the damage it caused," Siberius explained in a hushed tone and Cassia suddenly had a chilling feeling she knew where this was going, "We have two choices, we can leave it as is where he won't be able to use the leg properly and will need a cane just to walk or we can amputate it and he'll need a prosthetic but will be able to regain full mobility with tha-"_

 _"Take the leg," Cassia told him grimly but without hesitation, causing his eyes to widen a little in surprise. He'd probably expected a little more resistance but she'd learned her lesson with her brother, rest his soul._

 _"Okay," Siberius muttered with a nod as he recovered from this shock, "It's going to hurt a lot, so much so he might pass out from the pain. We're still out of anesthetic, you see, so… you don't have to stay if you don't want to."_

 _"I'm not leaving my son," Cassia insisted stubbornly, scowling at the thought of leaving him to endure this alone, "Don't give a warning, just do it. Don't give him time to be afraid."_

 _"As you wish."_

 _"Hey Att…" Cassia greeted him gently as she moved back over to him, he was looking concerned though._

 _"What… What was that about?" Atticus asked anxiously, trying to peer around her to where the Healers were preparing his leg, "What are they doing?"_

 _"Don't worry about that, just look at me," Cassia urged him and took his hand, his eyes drifted back to their mirror as he started to breathe faster, "Just look at me, Att, its okay."_

 _"But what are they going to do?" Atticus pleaded fearfully, trying to look back at them again before she started caressing his cheek._

 _"I told you don't worry about them," Cassia reiterated reassuringly and succeeded in capturing his attention once more, his breathing reigning in somewhat as she kept stroking his face soothingly, "Just look at me, Att, just keep looking at me…"_

 _She couldn't see or hear Siberius do the spell but she could tell the exact moment he did from her son's reaction. His body arched and a scream ripped every breath from his body, he squeezed her hand so tight… His head fell back on the pillow, tears streaming from his eyes as they closed and his grip on her hand went lax._

 _"It's for the best, Att, I swear," Cassia told his unconscious form sadly, "You'll thank me someday."_


	22. IIX: Clashing Plans

Scorpius spent the rest of the evening getting reacquainted with Antonius, the boy seemed in good spirits all things considered or rather like he was just happy to see them. He only left with Hogan shooed him away, insisting his patients needed rest. He was rather hungry by the time Lamb apparated them back to Hogan's, of course he would've gone straight to Myriam anyway.

"It took longer than you thought, huh?" Myriam guessed as he walked through the door.

"Don't even ask," Scorpius sighed heavily as he was reminded of the afternoon with Abel, "On the bright side, tomorrow is all clear."

"Good."

For once the stars seemed to be aligned in Scorpius' favor as nothing disastrous happened between then and the next morning, no emergency meetings or errands or anything. And so after breakfast he left the house with Myriam as his transportation this time, which was bothersome. He very grateful for her, Lamb and anyone willing to apparate him but the fact he needed it in the first place bothered him, he felt like a child needing someone to hold his hand all the time and it shouldn't be like that.

He said nothing about this though as the female werewolf apparated him to his family home, standing as proud and as regal as ever. He let out a relieved breath, not because he'd been worried – despite what Brutus had said, he would have heard something if his home had been attacked – but because he hadn't realized until that moment how much he missed it, it was oddly comforting. He took the lead as he approached, letting himself in with a bit more trepidation with Abel's suicide attempt still hanging in his mind despite logic dictating it was incredibly irrational to fear that for his family.

"Scorpius!" his mother fell upon him at once, running to him and flinging her arms around him. She was crying, "Scorpius, we were worried sick about you! We didn't know… We didn't even know if…"

"I'm okay, Mother," Scorpius assured her, hugging her tightly back, "You don't need to worry about me."

"But I do," his mother insisted, stepping back and wiping at her eyes.

"Scor!" he heard his little brother, Sol, before he saw him and the toddler bounded towards him with outstretched arms. Scorpius practically had to catch him as he launched his little body at him, he was chunkier then Lysel – who went off food when weak from the full moon – with hair as fair as Lysel was dark. Scorpius gave him a cuddle and he giggled, "Myr!"

"Hey Sol," Myriam offered kindly as Sol wriggled away from him to run at her instead, surprising her by throwing himself at her for a hug as well, "Oh hi, it's nice to see you too."

"Where Lysel?" Sol demanded, pulling away just as she had recovered enough from her surprise to hug him back.

"He's back at the house, I just came to drop off Scorpius."

"Can you get him?"

"Scorpius…" his father breathed and Scorpius found himself being hugged by his dad, he must've came in while Scorpius was distracted watching Sol with Myriam, "We were worried, we feared we'd lost you again…"

"I'm fine," Scorpius insisted as his father pulled away, not in tears but still markedly more emotional then Scorpius had expected.

 _Aunt Narcissa!_ Calderon cried suddenly inside his mind and Scorpius tried to ignore him,

"Oh Scorpius!" his grandmother exclaimed and he was hugged next by her, being squeezed surprisingly tightly for an elderly bony woman, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? We hadn't heard from you!"

"I'm fine," Scorpius repeated as his family – sans Sol who he could hear yammering away to Myriam a few feet away, naturally not feeling the same gravity as the rest of them – gazed at him, his mother looked like she wanted to hug him again, "I've just been with Gray."

"And you couldn't drop in for five minutes to let your family know you were okay!"

"Well I still can't apparate so it's not easy to just get here," Scorpius pointed out lamely, hoping Myriam wouldn't be mean enough to tell them plenty of people would've been willing to take him. He didn't want his family to think he'd been avoiding them when they were worried, thankfully Myriam was either too busy with Sol or too nice to throw him in the deep end, or both.

" _Still?"_

"Apparation is difficult, leave him alone," his mother spoke up defensively, going so far as to put a protective arm around him.

"Where have you even _been_?" his grandmother demanded and Scorpius tensed a little, he supposed they were just going to jump right to the point.

"With Gray," Scorpius answered and subconsciously stepped a little away from his mother, it felt a little strange to be so honest but he'd have to be if he wanted them to come with him, "I may be fine but there was a lot of injuries and death of others including some of my friends, everyone has kind of been reeling and then I've needed to help with stuff."

"Why do they have to drag you into it?" his father complained unhappily.

"They didn't drag me, I tracked Varanian down," Scorpius pointed out truthfully, deciding to omit the fact he'd been twelve at the time, "I'm his second in command now."

"Oh, really?"

"Really, I'm a part of Gray and I have been since the beginning," Scorpius admitted, finding it very freeing and feeling more confident with every word, "It has always been my fight, my war and now I'm not a child anymore."

"You can't even apparate," his grandmother reiterated.

"Aside from that! I can do other things!" Scorpius insisted, his grandmother was scowling but his parents were looking more open to what he was saying. He took a breath, "I didn't come home to stay, I actually wanted to ask if you'll join me with Gray."

" _What?_ "

"Scorpius, we're not fighters-" his father started to say as he joined his grandmother in scowling.

"Look, it's not as crazy as it sounds," Scorpius said, holding up his hands defensively, "Gray are known for fighting the Shadows but a lot of members aren't even fighters, they're just there for protection. There's people who are injured, a few muggles in Gray, some little kids- heck, the youngest member is my friend's baby! Right, Myriam?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, right," Myriam agreed, starting in shock at being put on the spot. It occurred to him that maybe he should've spoken to her about his intentions beforehand, he also realized Sol had ran off, "They don't make you fight if you don't want to."

"I didn't know you were Gray," his mother wondered in surprise, Myriam shrugged sheepishly.

"I haven't been for that long."

"Well we shan't be joining you," his grandmother decided testily, she wasn't too keen on his mother's lycanthropic friend.

"It still seems rather dangerous, Scorpius," his father said more diplomatically, "Just being with those people is going to put a target on our backs."

"There are _already_ targets on our backs!" Scorpius insisted defensively, "The Shadow Master is related to us."

"I think it's too distant of a relation to mean anything," his father decided though Scorpius noticed his grandmother averting her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you think, Father, it matters what _she_ thinks. And from what I know of her, at some point she's probably going to come after all of us regardless of what you do. Sticking your head in the sand isn't going to work."

"It's worked so far."

"So far her attempts to focus on England were repelled, that's not the case anymore."

"You really think it's safer with them then here?" his mother wondered.

"Yes," Myriam agreed before Scorpius could, "Nowhere is safe from the Shadows but Gray at least has a lot of protective enchantments up and people around."

"We could just put up our own protective enchantments," his father pointed out defensively.

"The Shadow Master already knows where we live so protective enchantments aren't going to do anything," Scorpius stated truthfully.

"We can't just leave our home, Scorpius."

"Why not?" his mother wondered, "If what they said is true it could be better for us, not to mention the fact we'd at least all be together."

" _If_ , Astoria, it's a massive _if_ ," his father insisted as he turned to his wife, much to Scorpius' frustration and he found himself feeling suddenly angry, "Expecting this madwoman we've never had contact with to come after us over a thin connection is a pretty big leap, if we're not already on her bad side then putting our family at needless risk by joining the people out to stop her is just going to get us killed."

"A big leap?! She _had me kidnapped_ , did you just forget that?!" Scorpius found himself yelling and a still silence followed as everyone in the room froze, "Because I don't forget, I can _never_ forget. And that was before the Shadow War- that was before anyone had even _heard_ of the Shadows! We're already on her bad side, we've always been on her bad side, the only difference is for once you have the chance to act first while she's preoccupied."

"I think you're just confused, dear," his grandmother decided meekly, "And if anything, the reason we'd be on her bad side is because you insist on getting mixed up with the people opposing her. If Lucius had stayed out of it then maybe… maybe he…"

"You know ignoring something doesn't make it go away, right?" Scorpius told her, frustrated enough already with the pureblood attitude from dealing with Sebastian's so-called family, "Ignoring the war doesn't mean it's not happening anymore then like ignoring a depressed family member doesn't stop them being suicidal-"

" _What?!_ "

"-and ignoring a family member you don't like or approve of because they're not pure enough or whatever doesn't stop them from existing, it doesn't stop them from existing and maybe- just _maybe_ if they weren't shunned in the first place they wouldn't turn into raging psychopaths who want the world to pay!" Scorpius shot out and couldn't help but notice his grandmother flinch at this, it did make him reign himself back as he was on a bit of a tangent here. He sighed, "Maybe if people did what was right instead of what was easy then things wouldn't be so bad. That's not my point though, my point is you shouldn't and _can't_ ignore the war. It won't protect you, it won't protect anyone. Just come with me. Please."

"We can't," his father told him regretfully.

"We can at least talk about it," his mother spoke up, glowering a little in the direction of the other Malfoys.

"There's nothing more on the subject to talk about," his grandmother insisted, "Instead we should talk about Scorpius staying with us instead of Gray, we can just put up protective enchantments and everybody wins."

"No, I'm leaving," Scorpius decided, them preventing him from going back to Gray was the exact thing he'd been afraid of. He also felt like they were done here anyway, he knew they were alive and he could come back later, "I have things to do. Come on, Myriam."

"Oh erm… okay," Myriam said awkwardly as Scorpius had already made to leave.

"You're going already?!" his mother wondered in distress as she made to stop him.

"I can't leave Gray," Scorpius insisted knowing it was true even though he felt bad, "I'll come back."

"You better," she said and hugged him once more, he hugged her tightly back and she dropped her choice to a whisper, "I'll try talk to your father about it, I fear your grandmother is a lost cause though."

"I _really_ think you're in danger, probably you and Sol more than the others," Scorpius whispered back, if his mother came she'd no doubt take Sol and if they were gone he thought the others might be more inclined to go after them, "If you leave go to one of the Ministry shelters, we're allied with them now so they should contact me if anyone shows up there."

"I love you, so much."

"I love you too."

"Please stay, Scorpius," his father pleaded as he pulled away from his mother, his tone sounding very much like he didn't want to beg.

"I'll be back," Scorpius assured him in a firm tone to try conveying the note of finality, more to the point that he was most definitely leaving in order to be able to return later.

"Wait! Don't go away!" Sol cried loudly, barreling back in with an armful of toys and almost tripping over one that fell. Scorpius was momentarily surprised his brother was that concerned with his leaving before he opened his mouth again, "I want that you take these to Lysel so he can see!"

"Sol…" his father said in a chastising tone while his grandmother grabbed him by the arm to stop him running forwards, Sol pouted like a sad puppy. His father sighed, "Okay, only _one_."

"Yay!" Sol cried happily and his grandmother begrudging released him so he could run forwards – dropping something else from his stack of toys – to get to Myriam, he then promptly dropped them at her feet.

"Sol!" his mother complained, "You didn't have to make a mess!"

"Sorry, sorry, I pick it up in the minute," Sol brushed it aside distractedly as he rooted through the pile of toys, occasionally picking one up then putting it down before finally seeming to settle on a large stuffed three headed dog. He then handed it to Myriam, "This one, this makes me think of Lysel. Tell Lysel I missed him."

"I will," Myriam promised and Sol smile gratefully before running to give Scorpius a quick hug.

"Bye Scor, good of luck at NEWTs!"

"Erm… thanks," Scorpius offered in confusion, realizing both that Sol was out of the loop but also that it made sense because he was three and a lot more sheltered then the same aged Lysel since his home hadn't been overrun by Inferi. Not yet, anyway… He tried to hug his brother back but he had already barreled off to pick up the dropped toys, he supposed that was just how the attention span of toddlers went.

"Take care, Myriam," his mother added pleasantly.

"You too," Myriam countered before following Scorpius out, his family watching regretfully but not trying to stop him. It actually made him feel a lot better about visiting them, the fear of not being able to return to Gray was what tended to stop him most but they seemed to respect his wishes so that was good. He knew the whole meeting could've gone a lot better though.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius offered to Myriam as they meandered through the grounds of his childhood, knowing it must've been awkward for her, "That could've gone better, I erm… I didn't really think all of that through."

"Yeah… I kinda sensed that," Myriam admitted, "If you'd told me beforehand you were going to ask them to come back with us, I probably could've helped."

"Yeah, that kind of dawned on me later," Scorpius agreed as she held out her hand for him to take to be disapparate, he spared one last lingering look at the mansion on the vain hope someone would run out and change their minds. No one came though. He took Myriam's hand and she apparated them back to outside Hogan's, "Maybe Mother will change her mind."

"I'm pretty sure Astoria could come around, it's the other two I'm not sure of and I don't know if she'd leave without Draco."

"Malfoys," Scorpius sighed.

* * *

"Sly? Are you awake?" a familiar but unwelcome voice inquired as the door creaked open a crack.

"Of course I'm awake," Sly snapped irritably at the intruder, lifting the cold compress off his head to glare at Milton who was barely recognizable due to how utterly generic he looked, "I came to lie down because I had a headache not to take a nap, weren't you listening to me earlier?"

"I was or I wouldn't be here?" Milton pointed out in confusion, it wasn't hard to confuse his pea-sized brain, "Making sure you were awake just seemed the natural thing to do."

"Nothing natural about anything you do," Sly scoffed as he sat up, rubbing at his head. The pain hadn't subsided as much as he'd like but it had still eased, he'd opted to skip lunch and rest because the canteen would've made it worse and still had afternoon classes to get through. Milton had promised to come get him when lunch ended and it was time for them.

"Does your head feel any better?"

"A little," Sly admitted as he put the compress down and got up, stretching a little as he'd laid curled up, "So did I miss anything?"

"Just lunch?" Milton wondered in more confusion as Sly stood up, he sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was it so hard to find intelligent conversation? Even his _mother_ was capable of such things… when she wasn't high at least, "Why did you just sigh?"

"Because I hate you, Milton, very much," Sly informed him as he followed the older boy out of the small room they had to share, "You see when us actual human beings converse, the implication of the question would be if I missed anything noteworthy that happened to occur in my absence not to state the ridiculously obvious."

"Oh… Well that blind kid you hate but like to talk to was starting to give some strange anti-Soul Eater speech after he got back from being tortured, does that count?"

"Of course that counts!" Sly exclaimed delightedly, "Come on, let's go and heckle him."

"But we have classes."

"And we really don't have time to quickly go and mock him? Come on, Milton, I know you must've left sufficient time."

"Well, I did but I don't think its worth-"

"We've established you can't think so that doesn't matter, come on."

Milton sighed but begrudgingly changed direction as he started leading them to Cyrus, Sly resisted the urge to mock him for being an easily led sheep lest it delay them. After all, Cyrus would no doubt be shut down and get in trouble pretty quickly so they'd have to be quick to have time to heckle him, it was also why he was confident they'd have time to detour before class. He hoped it would be a nice distraction from the remnants of pain pressing against the sides of his skull, Cyrus was such an easy target and such an easily wound up idiot.

"And we should rise up! Against them!" Cyrus' voice could be heard before they saw him, he was actually standing on a side table in the corridor outside the canteen with a small handful of on looking human drones. Unlike usual crowds of onlookers, their expressions were utterly blank and uninterested with most just stopping briefly to glance at him before continuing onto their classes, "You're all child soldiers and we outnumber them, if we could just overpower them we could all get out of here!"

"What are you doing, Akram?" Sly asked smugly of the older boy, "Practicing your dead mother's eulogy?"

"She's not dead, Sly!"

"You know, I've heard denial is the first sign of grief."

"Go away! I'm trying to do something here."

"I'm just saying, there's easier ways to commit suicide then incurring the Shadows' wrath doing… whatever on earth you think you're doing here."

"Trying to encourage people to fight the Shadows, then we can all go home."

"Erm… this is our home?" Milton pointed out in confusion, scratching at his head and Sly instinctively went to tell him to shut up before realizing it just helped prove his point on how stupid this exercise was. The other Training Tower kids looked equally bamboozled, there were a few nods of agreement with Milton.

"Yeah, Akram, you self-centered dick face," Sly also agreed, "Did you forget that most of these kids don't even _have_ homes? You're speaking an alien language to these zombie folk and they lack the creative capacity to grasp the mere concept of a life outside of here, you're not just barking at the wrong tree but it's not even a tree in the first place. I suppose it's natural to mix those up when you're blind but I still feel compelled to tell you that you're an idiot."

"I know they don't have homes but they can _get_ them," Cyrus insisted and Sly actually laughed out loud at his idiocy.

"Do you have _any_ idea what they do with children who don't have families? Any at all?"

"He has a point, Cy, this is what I was trying to tell you," Davin pointed out and Sly realized he was standing near his friend he was just standing on the floor, he was looking a little down, "Most of us don't have a place to go, your society will probably put is in those prisons. We're not like you."

"Nonsense!" Cyrus insisted, "They wouldn't put you in prison, Davin, you're good. You'd just stay with me, my mom would let you live with us."

"Would she really?" Davin questioned dubiously.

"Of course! You're my best friend."

"What about my brothers and sisters? I couldn't be separated with them."

"She'd let them stay too, I'm sure," Cyrus continued though he was sounding a little less sure.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sly scoffed, earning as much of a glare as the blind could give, "Your dead mummy isn't going to let him and his eighty-zillion siblings live with you just because you're friends, that's not how the world works."

"Oh and suppose only _you_ know the world works?"

"Of course I do, I've _been_ there."

"So will they-" Davin started to say.

"Cyrus, what are you doing now?" a strong southern accent spoke up and Sly instinctively glared in Mo's direction as he approached, the 'crowd' – if such a small number could even be classed as such – parting for him, "The Shadows ain't gonna like you causing a ruckus, just get down from there."

"I'm trying to make people see there's another way!" Cyrus reiterated to which Mo raised an eyebrow and looked either side at the dispersing, disinterested crowd.

"Well it don't seem to be working so I reckon you can stop, we all have classes to get to anyway."

"You know, Mo, you're a powerful wizard and you weren't raised here," Cyrus said but nonetheless climbed off the table with a little help from Davin, "You're exactly the kind of person who should and actually _could_ stand against them, don't you want to go home?"

"Our homes are gone, Cyrus, the Shadows won the war already," Mo pointed out seriously as they all started making their way towards classes like the others, "And I'm the last person who can stand against them, I owe them my life. You need to just move on, make the most of this. My offer to help is still open."

"You're wrong."

"So they would put us in prison?" Davin wondered resignedly and Sly realized he was speaking to him.

"They might, it's more likely they'll put in foster care and then you'll _wish_ you were in prison," Sly pointed out bitterly.

"Didn't you say your parents were in prison or something?" Cyrus asked of him with a scowl.

"Yes, I did," Sly confirmed the obvious and dripped more sarcasm into his words, "I truly marvel at your ability to retain this basic information since such other basic information tends to elude you, you know like the Shadows' victory and your mother's timely demise."

"See Davin, don't listen to him," Cyrus told his friend, his teeth gritted now, "He just thinks prison is good because his parents are there, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Oh please," Sly gave a derisive snort, "It has nothing to do with my father's wrongful arrest and imprisonment, foster is awful for everyone. Ask Emerald's brother, if he could talk he'd tell you he despised it. Just because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, it doesn't mean the rest of us were. It's possible for people's lives to suck without the Shadows, as hard as that is for your spoiled rotten brain to comprehend."

"What about my brother?" Emerald asked worriedly but Sly ignored her.

"He's right about that," Mo agreed sadly.

"I'm not spoiled! I know people can have rough lives without the Shadows," Cyrus insisted though it wasn't entirely convincing in Sly's opinion, "But there's nothing worse than the Shadows."

"Of course there's worse than the Shadows, you fucking idiot," Sly spat irritably at the older boy, "They're not the be all and end all of evil, this place right here is so much better then foster care. You don't know how lucky you have it!"

"Being tortured every day is not lucky!"

"Oh, and you think the Shadows are the only ones who torture?"

"Erm... well duh, no one else would hurt kids."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid," Mo offered regretfully, "But people do."

"My dad used to hurt us a lot," Emerald pointed out quietly and Cyrus looked legitimately surprised by this, Sly laughed.

"You see, Cyrus?" Sly taunted him, "Outside of your protective bubble, life sucks and it has nothing to do with the Shadows. The Shadows may have harsh techniques but at least we get something out of it, we're learning useful skills and that's more than can be said from outside of here."

"Yeah…" Emerald agreed hesitantly and Mo also inclined his head at this.

"You're just being an ungrateful brat, you have it good here. They're teaching you to be an accomplished wizard instead of treating you like an infant, they only put you through pain to facilitate learning useful techniques instead of degrading you because you don't fit their mold because surprise, surprise the supposed good guys also try to brainwash you! They try to convince you that your father is evil just because he made you smarter and deals some illegal substances, all the while ignoring the fact that intelligence is a positive trait and that maybe if poverty wasn't such an issue then my father wouldn't have had to turn to dealing drugs in the first place! There's also nothing equivalent to muggle rehabilitation in the wizarding world, you know maybe drugs wouldn't be so rampant if they actually made an effort to actually help people get off them!"

"Erm… What are drugs?" Cyrus wondered in confusion.

"They're substances idiots take to make themselves feel better, you fucking moron!" Sly barked at him, frustrated at his ignorance but he was on the tangent train now, "But who cares, right? They don't care about helping anyone from Knockturn, that's the den of _evil_ because obviously humans aren't known for being a nuanced mix of light and dark. You know, the only real difference between their propaganda and the Shadows is that the Shadows are actually right, they _are_ winning the war because they're more competent then the monkeys at the Ministry!"

"I-"

"Because of the Shadows they already have more orphans then they have foster homes available so they either dump kids in strict group homes where they usually put the degenerate kids - so you're stuck with _those_ assholes - or with overcrowded families, naturally they'd rather exacerbate this issue by throwing perfectly good fathers for petty reasons and leaving their kids to their shitty system! They think throwing money at them solves the issue but parents don't really have enough space for all the kids - because rich people are selfish stuck up pricks so _naturally_ only poorer people volunteer – nor do they have the time to properly juggle the little bastards, they don't even do anything to stop your foster brother molesting you!" Sly snapped and quickly panicked as he realized he'd said too much, "I mean, that's what I've _heard_ happened to others. It didn't happen to me personally, clearly."

"I don't even know what that _means_ ," Cyrus complained and Sly noticed the others mostly shared the blank expression, except Mo who had given him a sickly sympathetic look. He hated that kid.

"That's because you're stupid and sheltered," Sly scoffed though was secretly relieved, still he would prefer the subject to alter, "Your dead mummy didn't teach you anything."

"She's not dead!"

"Okay, maybe you're right," Sly played along, smirking at the fleeting relief on the blind boy's face, "Maybe instead she just doesn't care."

"She _cares,_ Sly," Cyrus insisted in a growl and actually came to a halt, "You don't know her."

"I know you though and I know your daddy already ditched your dumb ass before you were born, is it really that much of a stretch? You're a self-centered spoiled brat who can't see, you're just a burden on her, on everyone. She doesn't love you, if she's not dead then the fact she never tried to save you just shows that she never really cared."

Cyrus abruptly lashed out with his fist in an attempt to punch him, Mo whipped out his wand faster than Sly could flinch and cast some kind of slow motion spell on him. Milton yanked Sly out of the way and Davin grabbed Cyrus, this seemed to snap him out of the spell and Davin stabilized. Stupid Mo with his stupid cool spells that Sly couldn't do, he could barely do _Lumos_.

"C'mon, let's not fight," Mo told them in his southern drawl, his tone casual yet somehow commanding. Cyrus glared – in the wrong direction, unless the wall had incurred his wrath – and stalked off, Davin guiding him and muttering something that sounded like 'don't let him get to you.'

"That boy's a savage," Sly scoffed as he brushed Milton's arm off, Mo gave him a firm look.

"Stop provoking him, Sly."

"Or what?"

"Or you'll regret it," Mo told him in a way that didn't sound like a threat.

"Why?"

"Because you're gonna grow up one day, you'll either become a good man and you'll regret being such a dick or you'll stay a dick and good men will _make_ you regret being such a dick."

"Somehow I doubt that," Sly sneered but Mo was already walking away, "That's right, walk away. You know you're wrong."

"Come on, Sly, let's just get you to class," Milton urged him, tugging at his arm a little.

" _Fine_ ," Sly sighed and begrudgingly allowed himself to be led by the older boy, he also realized Emerald had walked off at some point so it was just the two of them, "Best not make your robot brain self-destruct for failing to complete your primary objective."

"What's a robot?"

"Shut up, Milton."

* * *

Stephan Hunter stepped out of the Shadows as he had a Specter transport him to where his leader was, the ruins of some muggle town. He wasn't sure where, every place looked the same when it was reduced to ruin. It wasn't like he was particularly knowledgeable on the British landscape as it were, his focus had been pouring over maps of South America and the Middle East in preparation for their assault there. He'd go over them with James soon, that way they should be set by the time he'd recovered. He did intend to report to her about that but it wasn't his main reason for coming here.

He looked around, finding himself somewhat high up which he wasn't sure was a natural hill or the amount of rubble piled together just raised it up. He could see bodies littered amongst the ruin and could still hear screams, likely as a result of numerous fires running rampant because Sal didn't seem to be actively aggravating them right now.

Nestled amongst this pile of broken bricks was a massive dragon, its sleek black scales seemed to shine as they reflected the light of the flames. Stephan cautiously made his way around the end of its tail, the spines were as long as swords and probably just as sharp. It was curled up like any other animal so he came face to face with its ferocious head which was almost as tall as he was, its breath came out as a low growl and wisps of smoke left its large nostrils with every exhale. Its eyes were just black holes as it was controlled by a Specter, they blended into the rest of its dark body.

The Shadow Master was sitting casually on its back at the beginning of its tail, lying lazily as if it was a divan instead of a vicious monster. Stephan swallowed as he approached her, he wasn't too fond of being up close and personal with dragons which he was sure was because he found them much harder to control then people. For her it was no issue though, she looked almost bored as she twirled her staff idly which was a replacement to the Scepter of Night, she'd created herself using Herpo's notes.

"Master?" Stephan prompted to alert her to his presence, she didn't look but he was sure she heard, "How goes the conquest?"

"Lousy," Sal complained irritably, waving her staff and he couldn't see what she did – the dragon was in the way – but he heard bursts of screams, "I can't find my son and I can't just obliterate everything until I do, I have to keep checking and I keep not finding him."

"That's unfortunate."

"I'm thinking going to start targeting smaller towns amongst the larger cities, I think it's more likely Brutus would take him there as he knows we need to go after the large targets. There's just so fucking many of them and I need to do it myself because no one else can check for him as easily as I can, I can't think of another way to find Omega though."

"Well, try the smaller targets for a while and see how that goes," Stephan offered encouragingly, "We can throw the issue out there if it doesn't work, see if any of our people have ideas for solutions."

"Yes, nothing much else we can do," Sal agreed with a sigh and she finally looked at him, "So what is it you wanted, Stephan?"

"I'd like to discuss the Ministry."

"The Ministry?" Sal wondered and laughed, actually giving him a smile, "Oh please, they're too busy running around trying to help survivors to do anything remotely threatening, hiding in some kind of bases like cowards. I'm not worried about them."

"They've made an alliance with Gray."

"And? Gray are clearly too busy reeling to do anything, we must've burned them pretty badly to think the Ministry are worth allying with."

"They gave the Ministry information on our spies and a spell to pick up the tainted wands," Stephan pointed out though Sal continued to look uninterested, "All of our people were arrested, and they're being held in New Azkaban prison."

"And? We don't even need information on the Ministry anymore, they're done for. All they're doing is delaying the inevitable."

"We should still save our people, even if they're not useful anymore," Stephan insisted and actually moved a little closer, "It'll boost morale amongst our own people _and_ show the Ministry not to fuck with our people, Aurors guard the prison so it'll take out a chunk of them at once. We have nothing to lose from this and everything to gain, we'd destroy the prison eventually anyway and it's just another city to rule out Omega's location for."

"Hmm… you're not wrong," Sal agreed after a moment's thought, "Very well, we'll prepare the extraction and show the Ministry they never should have built an Azkaban two."


	23. IIX: Bad Dreams

_**Author's Note:** This is the last of four chapters I uploaded at once so if you skipped to the end, you missed a few chapters. That's also why I haven't uploaded in ages, I decided to write some segments out of order so I just kind of screwed myself out of being able to update what I had written since I needed to do stuff in between. On the bright side, I know some people like reading a bunch at once so... hope this makes up for the delay a little, right? Maybe?  
_

* * *

 _"Rose run, I can hold this long enough for you to get through," Michael told Albus' cousin, "If one of us doesn't keep this up we'll be overwhelmed and killed by Inferi before we can get away, one of us has to fight for the other."_

 _"You go then," Rose countered._

 _"No, I want to make sure you live!"_

 _"You need to live more, Michael, you're going to be a dad!"_

 _Without waiting on a response from Michael, Rose pushed him forcefully back through the entrance. Michael cried out in protest but it was too late, one wasn't enough to keep the Inferi back despite Albus' best efforts with the Knockback Jinx._

 _An Inferi's hand tore through the side of Rose's neck before he could stop it, she screamed in pain and Michael howled in anguish as if he was the one suffering. One tried to take her wand and ripped her whole hand off instead, another clawed at her face and tore off her ear. Michael tried to run forwards but Albus grabbed him, knowing it was already too late as rotted fingers clawed through her throat and silenced her screams forever…_

"NO!" Michael screamed as he jolted awake, soaked in sweat and shaking all over.

He looked around in panic, breathing heavily but saw only the gloomy still outlines of familiar shapes in the Embry's garage where he slept on a shoddily transfigured bed. The emptiness didn't help, if anything the silence just served as an echo chamber to amplify the screams in his mind and the spaces between the darkness all seemed to be shaped like Inferi.

He buried his face in his hands but it didn't help, the images in his mind not in front of his eyes were the problem. He was crying before he realized it, feeling tears falling through fingers as he sobbed brokenly. It hurt so much but it wasn't a physical pain, it wasn't something he could _heal_ , no that would be too simple. And so he had to suffer, to watch her die over and over, unable to save her just like he had been unable to in real life, just like he hadn't been there for Flynn, just like he hadn't been there for Annie. He just wanted the memories to stop, and there was only one way he knew to do that.

Giving up, he kicked off the blankets and crept out of the room into the main house. It was just as dim and quiet in here as the garage, bar some distant snoring. He went to the Embry's liquor cabinet, one silent unlocking spell later and he was carrying a bottle of whiskey back into the kitchen. He got out a glass and sat down at the kitchen table, he was afraid if he just took the bottle back to his room he'd drink it all whereas pouring it out might help with pacing himself. That was the idea anyway.

He poured himself out a glass and pushed aside the niggle of guilt over drinking trying to worm its way into his skull, he was trying to pace himself so he shouldn't feel bad. He dried his eyes and downed the burning liquid, it didn't have quite the same kick as firewhiskey but that was okay. Except it wasn't, his mind was quick to remind him, he shouldn't be drinking. But I need it, another part of his mind argued as he poured himself a second glass with a still shaking hand, no one else knows what it's like to wake up screaming every night from the memories. He started on his second glass, desperately hoping the brain cells responsible for broadcasting those horrible moments would be burned out soon.

 _Click!_

Michael jumped in shock at the sound of the back door, turning with his wand half-ready but lowered it as Antonius' dog bounded back inside. Cassia followed and seemed as surprised to see him as he was her, she closed the door behind her and yanked her sleeves further down as she approached. He lamely looked around for some way to hide the alcohol but the table was empty, maybe she wouldn't understand or didn't know he wasn't supposed to drink.

"What are you doing up?" Michael demanded of her, reminding himself he was the adult and trying to look like he was well within his rights to be sitting in the dark drinking alone.

"Hope needed a bathroom break," Cassia explained simply as she came over and stood on the opposite side of the table, gesturing to the dog as it disappeared into the corridor, "I thought you weren't allowed to drink?"

"Cassia, would I be sitting here drinking if I wasn't?"

"Yes," Cassia pointed out and he scowled irritably, "Daddy used to drink sometimes."

"Because it's a normal thing grownups do," Michael insisted, sipping at his glass and deciding he didn't even care if he was caught. It was worth the headache to sleep without nightmares.

"Can I have some?" Cassia asked and Michael couldn't help but laugh at this, until he realized she was serious.

"No, it's for-" Michael started to deny her but changed his mind at her scowl, thinking abruptly of Scorpius' reaction to his first drink, "Okay, sure, you can try it."

"Really?" Cassia wondered, seeming pleasantly surprised by this as she sat down opposite him. He refilled the glass – it was nearly empty – and slid it over to her.

"Absolutely," Michael confirmed, with any luck one taste would put her off for life, "Just don't tell anyone."

"Okay," Cassia agreed readily and took a gulp from the glass, her face screwed up in the predicted disgust and she spluttered at the strong taste, "That… That has quite the kick."

"Yes, yes it does," Michael agreed, grinning as he suppressed the urge to laugh. Cassia looked pensive for a minute before to his great shock, started to move it back to her lips, "Hey! What are you doing!"

"Was going to try get used to that kick," Cassia explained as Michael snatched the glass back in horror.

"No! I said you could try it not drink it. You're not to drink, not now and not ever!"

" _You_ drink!" Cassia pointed out acidly.

"And I'm not supposed to!" Michael admitted, kicking himself for screwing himself over. He sighed, "You shouldn't aspire to be like me, Cassia."

"Because you drink or because you're an asshole?"

"Go to bed!" Michael snapped at her angrily, jabbing his finger in the direction of the door.

Cassia gave him a dark look but nonetheless complied, heading back out into the corridor after the dog. He sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, regretting his outburst already. He should've just tried to talk to her, he was supposed to be her friend and she was obviously going through a lot. It wasn't even like she'd said something that _wasn't_ true, he did drink and he was an asshole lately. He didn't know why he was so angry, anger was better than pain though. Miserably he sipped at his drink, figuring he'd finish it and go back to bed before Cassia told someone of his crimes. What was _wrong_ with him lately?

* * *

 _Cassia stumbled backwards into the door to her room, fumbling to get it open without having to break the kiss and almost tumbling through when she succeeded. Her lover kicked the door shut behind them and she guided him through the minefield of empty alcohol bottles scattered across the floor to her bed in the corner, pulling her top off her as he pushed her down onto the bed. Wishing Maurice would let her have a double bed, she started fiddling with his belt to get it off._

 _"Let me," Jerry told her when she struggled, wondering why guys complained about bras being difficult to get off when belts could be just as awkward._

 _"Thank you, Jerry," Cassia offered and grabbed one of the bottles off the floor, pouring the last few drops into her mouth._

 _"What?" Jerry wondered freezing and she scowled in annoyance as she dropped the bottle, figuring he had seen the cigarette burns on her forearms. As if he had any right to complain, he was at least three times her age and any looks he had were hidden behind a face full of graying scratchy beard, "Did you just call me Jerry?"_

 _"Isn't it your name?"_

 _"No," Jerry snapped irritably but he had at least gotten his belt off, "I'm Tim."_

 _"Does it really matter?" Cassia complained, reaching out to unzip his fly._

 _At this, whatever his name was seemed to decide it actually didn't matter as he started kissing her again and running his hands over her. Honestly, she didn't get why she should be expected to remember the names of the guy she slept with, she certainly didn't give a damn what they called her either. Jerry- Jim she corrected herself- started trying to unhook her bra, she made to help him before freezing as she heard the door burst open._

 _"Cassia!" Maurice's voice barked angrily, "What are you doing?!"_

 _"Whatever I want, it's my room!" Cassia snapped back equally angry at the interruption._

 _"And you, get the fuck away from her!"_

 _"She said it was okay!" Jim pointed out but backed off nonetheless, the coward._

 _"She's fourteen!"_

 _"There's no age of consent laws anymore since civilization collapsed," Cassia said smartly as she sat up, her stomach lurched inwardly as a wave of nausea rolled around inside. Not now!_

 _"My group, my rules," Maurice growled darkly, "Get out of here before I kill you, Tom."_

 _"Shows what you know, his name's Jim."_

 _"Actually its-"_

 _"GO!" both Cassia and Maurice yelled at him, Jim shuffled out of the room quickly leaving them glaring at each other. Maurice looked in need of a shave, and sleep._

 _"How could you be so irresponsible, Cassia?!" Maurice demanded of her, kicking at one of the beer bottles._

 _"What does it matter what I do?! You never let me go on missions!" Cassia shot out, wrestling with and silently the nausea that had surfaced inside her. She needed a cigarette.  
_

 _"How am I supposed to let you go on missions when you're so irresponsible?!"_

 _"Maybe I wouldn't be so irresponsible if you let me go on missions! I'm better than everyone else here and you fucking know it."_

 _"Yeah, because everyone better then you died!"_

 _"I know damn well who's died!"_

 _"If people better then you still died then how do you expect me to risk you in the field when you're always drinking or sneaking off to screw worthless nomads-"_

 _"I stopped doing that months ago!" Cassia snapped defensively and perfectly truthfully, it was the one thing she'd concede he was right on. She'd learned that the hard way, "Jim is one of our new recruits."_

 _"Not any more he's not," Maurice scoffed darkly, continuing to glare and if he made to say anything else it was lost as her stomach heaved again more forcefully and she lost the contents of her lunch, "And you're hungover!"_

 _"I'm not hungover!" Cassia insisted, wiping her mouth unceremoniously on her scarred wrist._

 _"Of course you're not."_

 _"I'm not!" Cassia protested once again, still feeling queasy, "I just… I've just been a little sick lately."_

 _"Oh really?"_

 _"Really!" Cassia snapped and either her instance or the fact it was the truth seemed to give him pause._

 _"Have you been to the infirmary about it?" Maurice asked, instantly making her regret not just letting him think she was hung over._

 _"No."_

 _"Then that's where we're going," Maurice announced and flung her a dirty shirt hanging off the dresser beside him, "Come on."_

 _"I don't need to go to the infirmary!" Cassia shot out determinedly, secretly fearful. She was pretty sure she knew why she'd been ill recently and she was pretty happy to just keep pretending it wasn't happening, she didn't want to deal with it right now or right ever._

 _"You're going," Maurice growled in a tone that left no room for argument._

* * *

"You have until I get to zero, boy."

Lawson ran in terror, tripping over his own feet in desperation to get away as his stepfather's booming voice echoed around him. The house seemed strangely large, dark and devoid of furniture but he was too scared to care as he started pulling his small shaking body up the large oak staircase, each massive step seeming to be almost the large as his own little legs.

"12… 11… 10…"

He reached the top breathlessly, perfectly identical empty corridors stretched out to both his left and right. He ran to the right, not wasting time thinking when he could be running. He tore down the corridor as fast as he could force his starved body to run, the corridor seeming strangely large and also with no furniture, just bare walls with equally identical wooden doors reaching out seemingly endlessly.

"9… 8… 7…"

The corridor seemed to be go on forever, he felt as if he was just running on the spot for all the closer it put him to the end. Giving up on that, he threw himself through one of the doors at random, his lungs burning from the lack of breath and his heart beating overtime due to his fear. The room was strangely empty bar a full length mirror on the wall, a wall identical to the corridors.

"6… 5… 4…"

He caught a glimpse of the tiny pitiful child in the mirror's surface, his waves of jet-black hair were plastered to his ghostly white face from sweat and two slate gray eyes stared back wide with terror. That was wrong though, bubbles of rational thought tried to surface through his thoughts, he didn't look like that anymore.

"3… 2… 1…"

Lawson jolted fearfully, abandoning the mirror and letting his eyes skim the room instead but it was just barren walls and floorboards. He ran towards nowhere in particular, falling to his knees at a random floorboard and digging his small fingers around the edges of one of them. He pulled with all his might, with a final heave the floorboard was ripped from its place.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

He was too scared to be pleased and instead just climbed into the hole he'd created, with trembling fingers pulling the board back into place over himself, leaving him lying in the dark with slivers of light filtering through between the boards. His whole body was shaking as he heard his stepfather's footsteps, cold fear seeping through every fiber of his being.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" his stepfather's voice cooed in a falsely cheery tone, it was followed almost immediately by a bang.

Lawson's body tried to jump out of his skin at the sound of the door being kicked open and he clasped a hand over his mouth to stop himself screaming, he was too scared to even breathe and tears filled his eyes. His stepfather's footsteps resumed as he strode across the room over him, a sickening scraping sound following as the nails in his baseball bat trailed along the wood.

"You deserve this…" a new voice rasped from beside him and Lawson felt his blood freeze to ice, he knew that voice, "Daddy, why?"

Slowly he turned his head to the left and saw his daughter's corpse was lying beside him, brown hair neatly tucked behind ears bleeding blood that looked black against her colorless skin in the gloom. Her mouth was hanging open, dried foam stuck to her lips but most prominent were her eyes, glazed glassy orbs that despite being sightless seemed to bore into his soul. He couldn't help the anguished scream that escaped him nor the tears that erupted from his eyes.

A different scream escaped him as his stepfather's hand punched through the floorboard, grabbing his pajama top and hauling him out of his hole. The looming figure threw him back onto the ground and raised the club over his head, the razor sharp points of the nails glinting in the gloom as his stepfather prepared to bring it down on him.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Lawson screamed with every breath in his lungs, trying to shield his body with his arms as the swing came down…

Lawson jolted awake still screaming with his heart racing in terror, his arms still held up protectively as his body launched upright. He sat there breathing heavily in his sweat soaked clothes, shaking violently from fright or maybe the cold as his eyes darted around in the darkness.

He was alone – blissfully – but he was also in a very small cell, his heart started aching with anxiety as his claustrophobia started to kick in until he spotted the crevice that passed for a window, naturally barred but he could see the comforting presence of stars and a sliver of moon.

He allowed himself a breath of relief and put a scarred hand to his head, his tensed up body relaxing a little on the solid board used as a bed. It was okay, it was just dream – it was _always_ a dream - and he was still in prison. His relief vanished the instant it had formed for the exact same reason, he was still in _prison_.

He flinched as if jolted by an electric shock and whimpered fearfully, hugging his knees to his chest as his body continued to tremble. He could only hope the Aurors hadn't heard that, he really didn't want to be tortured again. _But you deserve it_ , his daughter's cold voice whispered in his ear.

"It wasn't my fault," Lawson hissed at the disembodied voice, rocking a little back and forth.

"Atoll!" a voice barked.

Lawson jumped so violently in response that he actually fell off the 'bed' and smacked his head painfully on the hard stone wall, he clutched at it with one hand and cowered fearfully. He was too afraid to even _look_ at the Auror, sometimes just that was good enough to set them off especially if they were in a bad mood and they'd been in a bad mood a lot lately.

"Who were you talking to, Atoll?" the Auror growled and Lawson flinched at the sound of his voice, realizing he'd been holding onto some irrational hope the Auror would be content to snap his name and leave him be, or that he was still dreaming. If he was still dreaming he thought he'd really like to wake up now, "Sending secret communiques to the Shadows?!"

"No!" Lawson answered in a frightful yelp, knowing they wouldn't believe him anyway- they _never_ believed him, "I'm didn't- I'm not a Shadow!"

"Then who were you talking to?!"

"I wasn't!"

"Well we don't we discuss this matter further downstairs."

"No!" Lawson wailed in despair and tried to press himself further against the wall since he couldn't back away, "Please! Please, please, please, I didn't-"

"On your feet, Atoll, hands out," the Auror snapped and Lawson flinched again at the sound of him striking his wand against the bars, unable to help but utter a whimper, "I can drag you kicking and screaming if you're not feeling compliant, that's much worse for you then me."

Lawson got to his feet shakily as he didn't want to make this any worse for himself, still staring pointedly at the ground as he inched closer to the bars. He held out his hands, the scorched scars making the skin seem mottled as it stretched over the visibly shaped bones and his wrists were bruised still. The Auror conjured handcuffs and Lawson grimaced as the cold shackles squeezed around the wrist, unreasonably tightly in his opinion. He heard the click of the cell door but waited until the Auror barked a command before shuffling out, idly lamenting the door was almost unnecessarily as he was practically thin enough to slip through the bars. They weren't starved but his stomach was so fucked he couldn't keep down most of the prison food and it was unhealthy to try, the Aurors didn't care of course.

"Walk!" a different Auror's voice snapped – it was customary to escort prisoners in pairs – and one of them shoved him roughly.

He shivered and started walking in the direction he was pushed, still unable to bring himself to risk raising his head so kept his eyes on his shoes watching his feet walk awkwardly. He didn't like watching himself walk, he could see the abnormal gait then and would instinctively try to correct the limp which often led to him struggling and falling. Fearfully he looked away as he knew the Aurors didn't take too kindly to that, they were walking single file now so he was less at risk for pissing them off for looking at them the wrong way.

Lawson wasn't exactly sure what the original Azkaban had been like but he knew New Azkaban was different, for instance it was on the mainland near a city instead of being isolated to a rock off the coast which he personally suspected had been done to rebuild faster. The higher levels were all split in half to divide the genders, men to the right where there were rows of individual cells and a shower room, he assumed women had similar to the left. They only got to mix on the ground floor, it was where the canteen was and the infirmary, the high security cells were also there. The basement was where they were taking him though, that was where the 'interrogation' room was.

He shuddered at the thought and tried to distract himself from his fate by gazing at the calming stars he could see out of the small windows in each of the cells, it was also better then looking at the prisoners who also could get pissed off just for looking at them the wrong way and it wasn't like the Aurors cared about that either-

"Hey!" Lawson exclaimed suddenly as he saw one of the prisoners hanging from the bars in his window, from the fact he was shirtless it seemed he'd made a noose out of his striped top, "That guy is-"

"Shut up and walk!" the Auror behind him barked, Lawson yelped in pain as he was struck across the back of his head – which was _already_ sore from hitting the wall – and staggered a little but managed to stay on his feet. There was a moment of silence where the man's choking could clearly be heard, they could save him, "I don't see anything, and neither do _you_."

Lawson swallowed but said nothing further, just walked on like a good obedient prisoner who didn't want to make things worse for himself. RIP to that other guy he supposed, he wondered if the Aurors were really allowed to ignore suicides like that, he wondered if the Aurors were really allowed to do a lot of the stuff they did actually. It wouldn't surprise him if they weren't, though it also wouldn't surprise him if they were and Ministry really didn't give a shit, after all they may have got rid of Dementors but he knew compared to muggles they treated prisoners badly.

He shivered again, feeling the cold in his bones as body couldn't regulate his temperature properly so he was often left cold. Considering the fact it was summer though, even for him it seemed unusually cold tonight. Maybe it was just the Aurors' chilling attitude, they had just left a man to die. He looked back to the windows and was surprised to see the stars were gone, so was the moon. Had the sky really clouded over that quickly? That was a little odd, it had been perfectly clear a minute and several feet ago. He looked away as they reached the stairs and shivered again, damn cold.

They reached the steps which were guarded by a muggle, distinguishable by red instead of Auror robes and batons – and Tasers – instead of wands. They'd started hiring them after the reveal of magic so they wouldn't have to waste wizards, it wasn't like they let prisoners keep their wands after all. The burly bearded muggle unlocked the door to the stair well and they proceeded down into even icier depths, they reached the bottom security door and the Auror in front of him traced a shape onto the door which made it open. Or alerted the muggle guard on the other side to open it, Lawson wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Whatever the case, they went on through.

Lawson felt his heart start to beat at the inside of his chest in trepidation, they were getting closer to his doom. He kept limping along fearfully, his anticipation not helped as they neared the basement entrance. Coming from there, they passed more guards bringing one of the recently arrested Shadows back to their high security cell. They were dragging his barely conscious body back, the guy was shaking more violently then Lawson was shivering. He wished he didn't know why.

The muggle guard kept the door open for them and Lawson was led into the basement, into the 'interrogation' room. It wasn't so much a room as it was a concrete box, completely windowless of course with just a steel table and two chairs, you could tell which chair was for prisoners as it was nailed to the ground. It was definitely claustrophobia inducing, he couldn't last five minutes alone without having a panic attack- less if they turned off the light. The room was terrifying enough and that was disregarding the fact that despite being called 'interrogation' everyone knew it was for torture.

His heart was already trying to beat itself out of his chest as the Aurors forced him into the empty chair, with a wave of their wands his handcuffs chained themselves to a bar on the table and new shackles crushed his ankles to the chair. He tried to just breathe while avoiding looking at the man sitting across from him, Arnett, the rattish Auror who was in charge of the night shift. Lawson wasn't sure if he was shaking now from fear or the cold now, he practically jumped out of his skin when Arnett actually addressed him.

"Atoll, haven't seen you for a while," Arnett mused in a nasally growl, which was true as they'd seemed to be more focused on the recently arrested Shadows, "But today I hear you're trying to communicate with your little Shadow pals again."

"No…" Lawson whimpered fearfully and shivered, not quite understanding why they were obsessed with the idea he was a Shadow. He wasn't a Shadow nor did he have any desire to be a Shadow nor did he have any idea why _they_ would even want him to be a Shadow, his crimes had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the Shadows, "I'm _not_."

"Not what?"

"Not the Shadows."

"Then care to explain who you were attempting to communicate with tonight?"

"No one! Just myself."

"Was it yourself or was it no one, Atoll?!" Arnett barked and Lawson jolted again at the sound of the Auror slamming his fist down on the able, he whimpered again and squeezed his eyes shut. He already felt crying, any second now the torture would begin.

"Both. Nobody except myself, I just had a mightnare and-" Lawson stopped as he heard snickering from one of the other Aurors, his felt his cheeks burn. His words just did that sometimes, they seemed to get jumbled up on the journey from his brain to his mouth, "You know that I mean!"

"I know you're almost thirty, you except me to buy you were having nightmares like a fucking five year old?!" Arnett snapped and banged the table again, Lawson flinched and felt his face burning anew. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to have nightmares, "Isn't it much more likely you're full of shit and were trying to contact your Shadow buddies? Talk to them through those Specters and have them break you out?"

"No. You're wron."

"Oh, I'm _wrong_? I suppose it's also just a coincidence they murdered your son in Hogsmeade after you murdered your own daughter, when it makes much more sense you'd just have your buddies off-"

"I didn't!" Lawson hissed defensively despite shivering involuntarily, actually looking at the Auror for the first time, "I did not kill her- I wasn't vean there- My wife was the one that- I was negligent homicide- I didn't want them to die-"

"You think there's a difference?! A dead child is a dead child," Arnett said darkly, glaring murderously with his beady little eyes. _He has a point, Dad_ , his daughter's voice agreed in his mind.

"Shut up!" Lawson snapped miserably at the voice in his head, realizing too late he'd spoken aloud and the Aurors couldn't hear her voice. He swore he never used to hear voices either, "I neam- I'm sorry-"

 _"Crucio!"_

Lawson screamed as every fragment of his being was suddenly alight with pain, it was like the acid was burning through him again but was also shredding him at the same time. He wished it was a physical pain, at least then he'd run out of body to destroy or pass out from the agony eventually. His body tried to contort against the pain but it had no leeway when he was chained down, his brain tried to plead for mercy but he anything remotely resembling coherency was lost in the violent shrieks that left his lips. Not that people were capable of mercy anyway.

He wasn't sure how long it lasted, every second was forever when filled with that much pain, but the pain started to migrate. He hadn't thought it was possible to intensify but it had, it was as if drills had bored into his brain and now even the small part of his mind he hadn't realized was shielded from agony was alight with the same pain.

 _You deserve it._

Abruptly, Lawson felt himself released from the curse and his body slumped as his muscles were freed from the tension. He was gasping for air like a fish out of water, tears he'd barely registered existing continued to stream from his closed eyes and the last residual ripples of pain jolted his still trembling body. The pain in his head hadn't stopped though, he still felt like there were knives sticking into his skull something awful.

"You feel like telling me what's up with your Shadow buddies now?" Arnett's voice was questioning, seeming a lot more distant now his words had to get through the fog of pain in his brain. Lawson tried to respond but he didn't think any words came out, it hurt too much.

 _If you don't say something, Dad, they're just going to torture you more_ , his daughter's voice pointed out which he registered vaguely as pretty likely. Fearfully he tried again, managing to mumble something incoherent this time which even he didn't understand.

"No? Well, I suppose you'll need some more incentive. _Cruci_ -"

Lawson uttered a whimper but Arnett stopped saying the spell anyway, all of them silenced by a loud crash from upstairs and the sounds of commotion. He wasn't sure whether to feel hopeful it would give him a reprieve or scared whatever was happening would be blamed on him, he supposed he should be concerned what the disturbance actually was too.

"What is going on out there?" Arnett questioned of… seemingly no one in particular and Lawson heard footsteps followed by the door. He was sounding more worried when he spoke again a minute later, the commotion was only worsening and screaming could be heard, "What the fuck? Our enchantments are gone."

"Is that normal?" someone – probably a muggle gauging by the question – asked.

"No, there's only one way I even heard of for this kind of stuff. We need to secure the Shadow prisoners right now," Arnett growled, there were more footsteps and Lawson flinched as he banged the table again, "What are your friends planning, Atoll?!"

Lawson tried to respond but was distracted by a loud boom in his ear drums, like rock crumbling. He opened his eyes just in time to see the walls _ripping_ , his jaw dropped and he looked up as the ceiling was being pulled off from above them.

The cold night air punched down on them at their unexpected exposure and their eardrums were flooded by the amplified sounds of chaos and screaming, Lawson could only still only gape at the prison rising slowly over their heads. With no warning, the rather sizable building was suddenly launched like a child tossing aside a toy and smashed down into the ground near – but thankfully not on – them to lay as a broken, misshapen mess in the darkness.

Lawson tore his eyes away from that, ignoring the fact his wife was in there to look at the sky. It was truly pitch black but high above everything he could make out a figure, a female figure bathed in azure light with a staff raised high above her head. He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, he was either fucked or just out of his fucking mind. This couldn't be real, he _had_ to still be dreaming.

"Stay with the prisoner!" Arnett barked and Lawson turned his head back to the people still there, aside from Arnett - who was running up the stairs - there was a muggle guard and half of some unfortunate sucker who must've been halfway when the Shadow Master ripped the place apart.

Lawson shivered, he thought he'd _really_ like to wake up now.


	24. IIX: Survivor

_**Thanks so much to:** Colin Creevey, laceyowens50 and Guest for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Are they (the visions) meant to contradict each other?_**  
 _Yep_

 ** _Will every chapter with visions show a sequel of sorts to the last one?_**  
 _Definitely not_

 ** _Have we met the man of many souls that Scorpius just doesn't know is needed to help defeat Sal yet?_**  
 _Sort of. Too spoilery to say anymore then that_

 ** _What's the point of getting out of the country?_**  
 _Because the ones under conquest are the most dangerous, especially when they were/are part of the group the Shadows are actively hunting_

 ** _Is that (Voltur) Rojer's first name?_**  
 _No, Voltur is the last name he uses, Rojer is his first name_

 ** _What will the Ministry do with suspects?_**  
 _Temporary holding in the shelters for the time being_

 ** _Which futures involve the Ministry falling?_**  
 _All of the ones in Molly's visions, they have to fall for the Shadows to win_

 ** _Are the damaged souls completely immortal or are they just to killing curses?_**  
 _They're not immortal, its just killing curses because the spell is designed to evict whole souls and doesn't know how to react to broken ones_

 ** _Could damaged souls kill using other methods without going into strange limbo, or is any killing basically bad for a broken soul to do?_**  
 _Any killing has the risk of that as any killing rips the soul but the killing curse has the most risk because you're using the soul directly to kill (since magic is part of the soul) its the most damaging_

 ** _Will Sly and Lawson have any significance?_**  
 _Its not spoilery to admit that yes they have significance, can't say what it is though_

 ** _Is Mo the American guy who Magnus sees defeat the shadow master if Scorpius or Oathan fail?_**  
 _Yes actually, he is. Good catch_

* * *

Lawson sat there, gazing into the darkness trying to make out what was happening from the brief illumination the flashes of azure light granted and having little success. He could still hear screams and crashes, occasionally see things flying overhead, he wasn't sure where the rest of the prison even was. He shivered, the night air was very cold but that was okay, it was nice to be able to breathe fresh air again before he died and the pain was receding too. Mostly anyway, his head still felt like someone had hammered nails into his skull.

"Dammit!"

Lawson looked back over his shoulder at the muggle left to guard him, he was bald – seemed shaved rather than naturally balding – and pacing frantically. He wondered if the muggle was planning on abandoning him, after all he was free to try save himself whereas Lawson was still chained to the table in a chair bolted to the ground. He wondered if dying was painful.

"Of course it's painful, it's _dying_ ," his dead daughter's voice informed him firmly, he just nodded.

"Atoll!" the muggle guard barked and Lawson flinched as the man stopped in front of him though Lawson avoided eye contact, "You told the Aurors you're not a Shadow."

"I'm _not_ ," Lawson insisted determinedly and jolted again at a particularly loud crash near them, near enough that some fragments of rubble rolled down into the 'room' with them, "Why dwould I still be here if I was?"

The muggle grunted and moved away, Lawson let his eyes follow and saw him crouch by the dead Auror. He was confused why for a second before he saw the man picking up a thin stick, the wand Lawson realized and had a fleeting moment of fear before remembering the muggle wouldn't be able to do anything with it. He carried it back over to him anyway and held it up in front of him.

"You see this wand, huh?" the muggle questioned, wiggling it to draw his attention for some reason and Lawson nodded. He wasn't _blind_ , "You can use this, right?"

"Erm… theoretically," Lawson muttered and the muggle lowered the wand, he wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"And you say you're not a Shadow?"

"I'm not!"

"Okay," the muggle took a deep breath, "You see, Atoll, my dilemma is I'm supposed to be guarding you and I don't know when – or if – any of the Aurors are coming back _but_ the city is under attack and I have a family out there who I need to get to so… I can either just leave you here – and if you are telling the truth about not being a Shadow you'll probably die – _or_ I can take you with me, which means trusting you with this wand because I can't break you free on my own."

"He's going to leave you to die," his daughter snickered and he looked to the left instinctively, logically she was long dead but she sounded so real right now. He rubbed his head, it still hurt a lot, "Don't worry about it, you'll be dead soon enough."

"Atoll!" the guard snapped again and Lawson shuddered as he looked back to him, "What's it going to be, huh? Are you going to be good? Do you want to come with me? Do you want to prove you're not a Shadow?"

Lawson nodded his head quickly in rapid response to the slew of questions. The muggle took another breath before reluctantly holding out his wand to him, Lawson could only stare at the short stick in shock. It felt like forever since he'd held a wand, he swallowed and shakily reached out for it. The muggle didn't let go, he caught his eye.

"If you make me regret this then I'll make _you_ regret this, do you understand?" the muggle growled and Lawson nodded again, he finally let go and moved away muttering something under his breath.

He swallowed and turned the wand over to take the handle, it was shorter, sleeker and thicker than his own had been and didn't feel as good to hold but hopefully that didn't matter. He wasn't very good at spellcasting to begin with, after all it required precise articulation of the spell as well as precise wand movements to go with it. Both were things he inherently had difficulty with and he'd flunked out of Hogwarts before they'd started learning non-verbal magic, he couldn't apparate either.

He practiced the Severing Charm movement a few times before giving up with his right hand - it was just too awkward an angle when he was trying chained to a table and he was aiming at said chains – and switching to his left, it wasn't his dominant hand but he had a better range of motion - this also contributed to his struggles with spells – and he managed to get the movement correct with that. He was so out of practice though, spellcasting was always hardest if he hadn't done it in ages and naturally they didn't allow prisoners wands.

"Would you hurry up!?" the muggle snapped at him which made him jump.

"Diffdindo! _"_ Lawson attempted and heard snickering inside his head at his failure, out of the corner of his eye he saw the muggle pausing to gaze at him in confusion, "Diffinfo! Diffindo! Diffdon- Doffin- Fuck."

"Are you a wizard or not?"

"Shup ut!" Lawson snapped without looking, momentarily forgetting who he was speaking to as he tried to focus and slowly practiced the wand movement in time with the spell pronunciation, " _Diff_. Diff- _in_. Diff-in- _do_. Diff-in-do. _Diffindo_. Diffindo. _Diffindo!_ "

Finally there was a snap and a flash of light as the chain was severed, he turned his wand to the chains on his ankle and cut them as well. He got up shakily, finding himself a bit unsteady on his feet after the torture.

"Come on," the muggle urged him impatiently as he headed for the steps, grabbing his arm to get Lawson following him.

They ran up the steps and the muggle released him, probably recognizing they'd need both hands to climb the piles of rubble surrounding them. Lawson winced as he stepped forward, the sorry excuse for shoes the prison provided had soles so thin he might as well have been wearing nothing to shield his feet from the broken pieces of rock they had to walk across. He tried to ignore it as he climbed up after the muggle, trying to be careful as it wasn't secure, more than once he felt the concrete shift beneath him and pieces of rock occasionally rolled down that the muggle dislodged.

Reaching the top, he pulled himself back to his feet and finally got a good look at what was happening. He could make out fragments of roads with fallen buildings strewn across them, cars crushed beneath rooves and lampposts skewering windows. There were houses half caved in, craters in the streets and beyond the flatter areas he could see high rise buildings. Some of them lopsided and leaning against each other while others had holes ripped out of them, some had straight up been ripped in half and other places just had empty spaces where the building had been uprooted. He saw one rising like the prison and slamming into the ones on the opposite side of the road, he could hear the shattering of the windows and watched them crumbling into ruin.

And there was fire. The crimson of the flames clashing against the azure light the Shadow Master had high up above, bolts of blue kept crashing down into the city leaving holes as if the ground had been punched by a giant's fist and sparks from that seemed to spawn the blaze. It varied in severity, ranging from in places small pockets that died quickly due to lack of fuel but in others buildings were ablaze in their entirety, being consumed by the ravenous inferno. He could hear the crackling flames amidst the other sounds, coming across like a low ominous growl while thick black smoke bled into the sky.

Lawson was by no means religious but the scene struck him as reminiscent of how he'd always envisioned hell or maybe the apocalypse, the Shadow Master even hovering high above it all like some kind of twisted angel of death, watching in the safe sanctuary of blue while the world below burned. Maybe this was why what actually surprised him the most was the people, he would have expected desolation but instead he saw life. He could hear the screaming but he could also see them, from his perspective they were like ants scrabbling across the rubble and moving rapidly – probably running in an attempt to flee the destruction - through the streets, stepping over or even trampling the prone bodies of the dead or possibly just injured.

"Is this how you died, Sly?" Lawson asked of his dead son sorrowfully as he surveyed the scene, he'd been told his son had perished when Hogsmeade had been attacked by Shadows but he didn't know the specifics, "Screaming through the streets as seven kinds of hell reigned down upon you? Running in terror as the world burned and everything came crumbling down around you?"

He looked to his left and inexplicably saw his son standing there, untouched by the chaos and looking completely identical to the last time he'd seen him. Which was exactly why he knew it wasn't really his son, he'd have aged in two years. Regardless, Lawson reached out to him as Sly shrugged with a sad smile before fading into nothing. He lowered his arm again and hung his head, suddenly feeling the urge to just sit there and wait for death. _Like you deserve._ He wiped at his eyes and pinched himself to make sure he was still awake, apparently he was.

"Atoll!" the muggle guard barked and he jumped fearfully, expecting to be hit. Instead the man grabbed his arm to pull him to the right, "Come on, I said this way!"

"Ididn't hear you," Lawson muttered as he was pulled along to the right.

The muggle didn't release his grip as he led him in that direction, forcing him into a run through the rubble as they descended into the main city with the rest of the populace. Some were going in the same direction as them while others ran towards them, even more were just running past them which was probably because that just happened to be the opposite direction to the Shadow Master. Their clothes were all torn and they were dusty from the debris, he caught glimpses of injuries and eyes wide with terror, he even saw a few clutching crying infants to their chests. They were all on foot, cars wouldn't get them far when you had to hurtle across piles of rock and step over still bodies every few feet but evidentially some had tried as they passed many crashed lumps of twisted metal, other cars were squashed beneath rubble while more still had just been abandoned in the middle of the streets, their headlights still serving to light up the chaos.

Incredibly within a few minutes he found himself distracted from it though, the screaming and crashing of disaster just blurring into background noise. It dawned on him very quickly that the muggle was athletic, he was a fit, healthy guy… and Lawson was not, he was so weak he might as well have been made out of papier-mache in comparison and was running on empty as he tripped over his own awkward feet. He tired quickly and lost his breath, a stitch stabbed at his side and hunger clawed at his empty stomach, darkness teased the corner of his vision and the muggle yanking him along was the only thing stopping him from collapsing. He was quite sure of this because when the muggle did finally let go of him, his body buckled beneath him and he grabbed on to something nearby to stop himself falling.

He heard the muggle say something along the lines of 'wait here' so he lowered his shaking body to the ground gently, gasping down much needed air and continuing to lean against the support. He hadn't realized his eyes were closed until he tried to see what it was and saw only darkness, though he could hear the man calling out some names that weren't his, probably the names of the family he was looking for. The next Lawson knew the muggle was shaking him awake, he forced his eyes back open with a feeling as if he'd been asleep for ages but in reality had probably just been a minute. Lawson whimpered fearfully as the muggle slapped him across the face, apparently he hadn't come to fast enough.

"Wake up!" the muggle snapped, "How can you sleep at a time like this?!"

"Hungy," Lawson muttered still breathless and rubbed at his stinging cheek, the muggle hauled him back to his feet so roughly that Lawson noticed he was starting to bruise.

"My wife and some people from our block are trapped in the debris but I'm not sure where, I want you to use the magic spell that finds people to locate them," the muggle told him clearly while Lawson searched his brain for such a spell, he thought the man _might_ be talking about the Human-presence-revealing Spell, "I know it exists! The Aurors mentioned it would be used to locate hiding prisoners."

"I'll _try_ ," Lawson agreed reluctantly and the man dragged him away from the car to what looked like a building vomiting rubble, he wasn't that keen to help his captor but he didn't think refusing would go well for him and he wasn't entirely sure it'd even work for people under rubble. He supposed he'd see. He switched back to his right hand, he was a lot more familiar with this one – making sure you were alone when dealing illegal substances was a fairly smart precaution – and could manage it with his dominant hand, "Homeniu- Fuck. _Homenum Revelio_."

Instantaneously lights started to spring up across the pile of rubble like candles on a birthday cake, he was quite shocked by how many there were. There was a cluster of several quite close together at the far right but there were several more scattered across besides that, he could definitely see how a wizard could be useful on rescue missions.

"Well?!" the muggle demanded, forceful but anxious, "Is it working? I don't see anything."

"Only the spellplastor sees it," Lawson muttered and gestured with the wand to the cluster, he had said the wife was with several others. The muggle started clambering over to where he was pointing and trying to shift the rocks, Lawson thought that would take forever though… unless he used magic to help. He sighed and switched the wand back to his left, after all the Levitation Charm had been the very first time he'd realized his right was physically incapable of making the required movement and he'd have to use his left sometimes. The incantation still sucked though, "Wingrar- Fuck. Wingardian Levia- Fuck. Windguard- Goddammit me. Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, it's a gar, a long gar. _Wingardium Leviosa!_ "

He felt the spell connect and the guard jumped back as Lawson successfully levitated a large chunk of debris, moving it aside very slowly and carefully as he wasn't particularly adept at this spell nor had he ever levitated something that big or heavy before. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and went to recast it, the muggle was gesturing at him enthusiastically as if saying to continue. He succeeded on his second try and slowly lifted up another chunk, an even larger section of wall which seemed to be enough as he saw the muggle reaching into the hole to help someone out. Lawson just focused on moving the concrete even farther from them, nice and gently. Since that seemed fine, he moved onto where there'd been some closer and levitated up a large beam, some people started climbing out of there so he made to levitate the next-

 _CRASH!_

Lawson instinctively threw himself away from the deafening sound as azure light temporarily blinded him, maybe not an instant too soon as he felt a scattering of stone raining down upon him as he rolled and the screams around him intensified, a baby's high pitched cries joining the terrified symphony. He stayed curled up protectively when he hit something solid, frightened as more nearby bangs could be heard and he felt the ground rumbling violently beneath him. Presumably this was how it felt to be close to Shadow Master's magical-lightning strike thing, either that or some other horrible thing he didn't really want to think about.

He risked opening his eyes, blearily seeing the road beyond them was now blocked by bounder-sized chunks of concrete speared by rebar. Sitting up, he realized that was only part of the building beside them as the rest of the building was slowly rising into the air despite the chunk that had been knocked out of it. He scrambled to his feet to run, seeing the other people already one step ahead of him in fleeing and- A stroller. There was a stroller near the rubble in the road where the baby crying was coming from, no parent in sight, not unless that was an arm under the rubble beside it…

" _Accio stroller!_ " Lawson cast as he started to run, the stroller zipped over to him and he grabbed the baby out.

He hugged it to chest protectively as he started to run away from the levitating building, he glanced around frantically to catch sight of it and caught it just in time to see it hurled horizontally into three apartment blocks still mostly standing to the right. Breathlessly he took a sharp turn to the left, pelting as fast as his weak wobbly legs would let him and trying not to trip over the occasional bricks littering the road. He heard rather then saw the buildings collapsing behind him, the deafening yet somehow still low grumble of stone breaking with sharper shattering of the windows. He staggered as the dust cloud it emitted reached them, falling to his knees as he choked on it momentarily and trying shield the little one from it, the baby was continuing to cry.

It was a black child, he realized, with a proud afro-like mop of dark hair. He – or she, he wasn't entirely sure of the gender - seemed about a year old and was in a white onesie with some little anchors and boats on it, it was bloodstained but he didn't think it was the baby's blood. From the smell, he _did_ think the baby needed a diaper change however. He healed a small cut on its forehead and started rocking it gently to sooth it, it worked to some extent but not completely. He wasn't surprised, after all he was a random stranger and this was a major disruption to whatever was normal for this kid.

"Atoll! You need to stay wi-" a familiar voice barked and he turned fearfully to see the muggle guard approaching, his scowl turning to confusion, "Why… Where did you get that baby?"

"Found it…" Lawson answered truthfully, keeping the child cradled protectively in his arms.

"Where's the parents?" the muggle asked and Lawson shrugged, the muggle gave an exasperated sigh, "Well give it here, criminals shouldn't have hold of a child."

Lawson got to his feet irritably, resisting the urge to ask if next time he'd prefer he just let the baby die. He handed over the little one who immediately started bawling, not happy at being given to a new stranger. A woman nursing an injured arm was following behind the muggle, a little boy around six or seven clinging to her dress with tearstained eyes filled with terror. They looked like they'd just climbed out of bed, she was in a nightie and slippers while the boy had a soccer shirt and pajama bottoms, he wore sneakers but the laces weren't tied. Their clothes were torn and covered in dust, it also covered their faces and was embedded into their hair. The muggle's family, presumably.

"Dant me to fix that?" Lawson asked of the woman and gestured to her arm with the wand, she looked startled he addressed her but hesitantly nodded. He took her arm carefully and waved the wand over it, he was quite familiar with healing magic. The incantation for minor fractures sucked though, "Epsiksy! Dammit. Epsiskey. Sepsiskey. Nope. Ephissky. _Episkey_!"

"Hey! You don't talk to my family!" the muggle barked at him as the woman gasped from the spell working, Lawson backed off and held up his hands fearfully but the man had turned his attention back to his wife, "You okay, hun?"

"Yeah, he fixed my arm," the woman muttered distractedly as she was examining her arm with a look of amazement, "I thought it was broken but it feels fine now, wow- Oh give me the child, you'll never sooth it snapping at people."

"Criminals aren't people," the muggle snorted with a glare in Lawson's direction though he handed over the baby, "Come on, we need to get him back to the prison and find the Aurors. We'll be safer with them."

Lawson could only assume the muggle had a better sense of direction then he did because he had no idea how to get back to the prison, after all they had to navigate through a city half destroyed and half mixed up like a sliding puzzle to find a building that had been flying through the air last time he'd seen it and all the while they were still being attacked. It was so absurd he wanted to laugh, he pinched himself instead because he still wasn't sure he wasn't dreaming. Nothing changed. Damn, and his head was still hurting. He jolted as something crashed down near them, he saw a flash of blue through the gaps in the buildings on the other side of the street but the muggle had started to lead them in the opposite direction before he could see what damage it caused.

On the bright side, at least the muggle was going at a more reasonable pace so the kid could keep up, he also seemed to be giving a wider berth to the trampled corpses littering the road now. Or what was left of the road, it was pretty torn up and ripped apart in places or completely blocked by broken pieces of buildings in others. They also weren't all corpses, he saw an elderly man mangled beneath a crushed car still gasping for breath and a couple of others he passed were twitching. They passed more live people too though less than before, an elderly couple hand-in-hand were somehow managing to hobble along weakly and a woman holding a small dead child screaming for help – the guard actually tried to shield the boy's eyes for that one – plus a few more of the feeble or hurt, the stragglers he supposed.

 _BANG!_

The kid screamed at the explosive sound to their right, a building seemed to have been thrown into one on the street they were on, coughing concrete all over the place as they crumbled into a cloud of dust across the road. Thankfully they were far enough away to not be in the radius of damage though the cloud still reached them, washing over them like a wave that wasn't wet and hitting them like a small gust of wind. It was like anti-air though since it had them all coughing on the dust that now engulfed their vision, even before it cleared the close by screams told him others hadn't been so lucky.

"We need to keep moving," the guard urged them into movement again, having to guide his son who was now in tears and trying to sob into his stomach, "Come on, son."

They continued onward and had to now clamber over the fresh debris, the road was blocked by the regurgitated rubble of a red brick building they had no choice but to climb over now. The guard and the wife would climb a bit before passing up the baby, they also helped the son up while Lawson was left alone in last. Or not really alone, he was horrified to see a few pale dust-covered arms poking out like plant shoots from people trying to claw their way out.

Some were succeeding and stumbling away, others seemed too hurt or too distraught to move. Some were crying for help, some were just crying, others were calling out names and yanking on protruding limbs or trying to claw weakly through the rubble. They barely even looked like people anymore, more like clay models because of the dust clinging to every visible fiber. Their blood was the only thing washing it away, the crimson stood out like when a child got the colors mashed together. He pinched himself again, the surreality of it making him question if it actually was reality again. Apparently it was.

"Or not," his daughter's voice offered, "How do we know that pinching thing even works?"

"True," Lawson nodded in distracted agreement, wondering when it had become so hard to tell the difference.

Guiltily as he watched them, he wondered just how many people were trapped beneath this rubble they were climbing over like the muggle's family had been before he came along, he wondered how many people in general were trapped beneath _all_ the ruin they passed. He thought it must be horrible, trapped in absolute blackness unable to move with the weight of the earth bearing down on you and pressing into you so you couldn't breathe… rather like being buried alive. He jolted in fear at the thought, causing him to accidentally cut his hand on a piece of broken glass. Lawson shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself protectively, the thought was _terrifying_ to him.

"The real question is how many have died already there, how many you could've saved, how many you _could_ be saving right now but _aren't_ ," Whit's voice whispered into his ear, "You're a terrible person, Dad."

"Atoll! Hurry up!" the muggle barked at him, snapping him back to reality and Lawson shakily continued climbing to reach the top, "What's your problem?"

"Do dou think there's others people trapped?" Lawson wondered aloud, fidgeting uncomfortably and the muggle looked taken aback, "I could look… I could help."

"No. We just need to focus on ourselves right now," the muggle told when he'd recovered, "We can't save everyone, trying is just going to get us killed."

Lawson nodded in understanding, he wasn't sure he agreed but he understood and as he was in this man's custody he had to obey. He'd offered so he'd _tried_ , it was on the muggle now if anyone died now. He felt a bit more at ease as they started to climb down on the other side, apart from his injured hand it wasn't as bad as climbing up but it was still pretty precarious with the loose bricks underfoot. They pressed on, leaving the fallen survivors to their fate but were still forced to go at a slower pace because of all the debris as even beyond the main ruin there were stray lumps of concrete and knocked over telephone poles. The streets were getting harder to navigate the longer the attack went on, more destruction meant more mess. He shivered.

Abruptly, the boy screamed and Lawson looked up. His eyes immediately widened and his jaw dropped as he saw a _dragon_ swoop down, if the boy hadn't reacted first he would've pinched himself again. It was as black as the night, as sleek as a blade and it was _massive_ , it was also shooting streams of flames down at groups of survivors.

"Move!" Lawson snapped at the gawking group, throwing himself down behind a car and the family – except the boy who was instead grabbed by his father – followed suit.

Lawson shivered again, cold seeping strangely through him. The street rumbled beneath them from the force of the dragon's roar as it rained fire down, further up the sound of screaming told him other people hadn't reacted as fast as they had. By the time they got up and turned back around, the other side of the street was an inferno. Some people must have rather stupidly not hid out of sight as they were now fleeing, looking from a distance like little flames themselves. The screams were terrible, as was the smell of searing flesh surging into his nose. About now, he found himself wishing he had ever learned the spell to not burn.

"Hey, Atoll," the guard urged him and Lawson was glad to tear his eyes away to look at him, "Isn't there a spell to avoid being hurt by flames?"

"Yeah," Lawson confirmed with a lamentful nod, he went to move his eyes away and realized the muggle was giving him a hard stare. He then gestured at the people as if giving him permission to use it on them, "Oh, I don't know the incancation for it."

"What about a spell for water then?" the woman asked, looking very distraught and trying to shield both the boy and the baby – who she had calmed by now – from the sight at the same time.

"To fill a small glass sure, not enough for _that_ ," Lawson insisted and gestured to the burning people, the muggle sighed heavily, "Do you know I failed Woghorts?"

"I could believe it," the muggle guard growled, "Let's keep going then, we should be almost there anyway."

Lawson would have to take his word for it, he wasn't entirely sure that or it was just wistful thinking anyway. There were less people as they started moving further away which was probably good considering that was what the dragon was going for but there were also less intact buildings, he was reminded of a ship graveyard but for buildings or London after the Second World War bombing blitz. If it was like this for a _city_ , he thought a small village like Hogsmeade must have been ground into dust. No wonder there had been no survivors.

"Huh?"

He almost walked into the wife who had stopped in front of him and heard the boy scream again, now clinging to his father in front of the wife. They were reacting to something silvery, a strange luminescent light quickly streaking across through the ruins and rapidly approaching them.

"Don't worry!" the muggle guard assured them, "It's just something the Aurors use to communicate!"

"A Pratonus?" Lawson realized to himself, making it out to be a rat as it ran by them. He'd learned about them in Hogwarts, Harry Potter himself had come to give a special talk about it. His Patronus had been a stag not a rat though, it had been cool… until Lawson had gotten the impression he didn't like the Slytherins much. They hadn't actually been taught or expected to cast it though, let alone use it to communicate.

"Probably a good thing," Whit's voice pointed out in an acidic tone, "If you succeeded you'd be consumed by maggots."

"It came from this way, we've almost back to them," the guard was saying, snapping Lawson back to reality and he saw him wiping the boy's eyes, "They'll keep us safe, I promise."

"I don't like this," the boy whimpered, clinging to his dad's arm fearfully as they started moving again.

Lawson couldn't tell where they were going though, the destruction all just melded together and he hadn't seen where the Patronus had come from. He didn't have to know though, he was just trudging along at the back with the wife. In fact, he didn't even _want_ to know. He wasn't in a hurry to get back to the Aurors and New Azkaban, he didn't know why he was even going along with these people.

"Yes you do," Whit's voice told him.

He shivered. It was colder here, he wasn't sure if it was the lack of fires or just the slower pace but he felt the ice inside his veins, even for him it seemed a strange kind of cold, like it had been with the dragon. It was quieter here as well, the only people he saw were the dead and the Shadow Master seemed to be further away, probably because this area was already totaled. Nothing was left intact here. He wondered if it was because the area around the prison, it hadn't been this bad when they'd left. Or it was the wrong area. Or it just got more destroyed in time.

"Hey!" the muggle guard called suddenly.

Lawson flinched so violently he almost fell over and wrapped his arms protectively around himself, he hadn't fallen behind this time. The guard wasn't speaking to him though, he was speaking to people further up ahead, Aurors. His eyes hit the ground, afraid of incurring their wrath again somehow. He ambled along shakily, he hoped they wouldn't be mad he took the dead Auror's wand, it _had_ been the muggle guard's idea.

"What are you doing here?" Arnett's voice answered, sounding surprised.

"Couldn't just wait around," the guard responded unapologetically, "What happened here?"

Lawson lifted his head a crack, curiosity getting the better of him. He wasn't surprised to see a collection of Aurors and muggle guards around, he _was_ however surprised by the state of them. Three Aurors were scattered around in the debris, dead, they and the actual survivors were all sporting injuries as if they'd been in a duel. Arnett's right arm was limp and he had blood down the right side of his face from a head wound, his Auror robes were now singed and bloody, he also looked a little out of breath. The other survivors were a lone muggle guard standing around shaking with shock and a burned female Auror who was tending to another Auror, that guy was unconscious.

"Specters," Arnett admitted, his voice shakier than usual, "Once I got the other staff – the ones that survived anyway – out of the prison, they possessed some of them and attacked the rest of us so we've been fighting. We kept banishing them but they kept coming back, just now the Shadow Master seemed to get fed up and… well… she killed them."

"Damn," the muggle muttered, gazing at the corpses with a look of solemn surprise.

"Yeah, I was finally able to send a Patronus out for help though but I don't know how long it'll take."

"I healed the head wound, I don't know why he won't wake up," the female Auror said briskly, seeming to give up and stood, "Hopefully he'll last until the Medi-Wizards can get here."

"Idiot," Whit's voice scoffed, "Why does no one know anything about biology?"

"Yeah," Lawson agreed with a shake of his head, "Wounds can be more than just skin deep, you have to treat the whole injury not just the surface."

"The convict can help, he knows how to heal," the wife volunteered and Lawson jolted fearfully, "He was just talking about it, he fixed my arm up as good as new earlier."

"No…" Lawson whined as he drew the Auror's attention, averting his eyes fearfully and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. He had been talking to his dead daughter not offering to help… though _not_ helping would probably make them mad now, he didn't want to be tortured again. His head was _still_ hurting.

"What have you got to lose?" the wife questioned, Lawson wasn't sure whether it was directed at him or the Auror. It was aimed at him then he thought he had a lot to lose, he already seemed to be running low on sanity if his dead daughter had anything to say about it.

"Damn straight," Whit agreed.

"Alright," the female Auror agreed begrudgingly, his gazed flickered upward and he saw her wand trained on him with her good arm, "Heal him or hand over Boris' wand, try anything else at your own risk."

"Kayo," Lawson sighed, not feeling like he had much of a choice now as he knelt by the body. It was rather uncomfortable, they were actually on some rubble right now and there was a kind of massive pit to the right. He put aside wondering where the prison was to focus on a diagnostic spell, switching the wand to his left hand because diagnosis needed a lot of wrist movement, "Hoopn- No. Hippo- No. Hup-"

"Oh for fuck's sake, _useless_ ," the female Auror barked irritably and he swore he heard her lower her wand, he didn't risk checking.

He successfully landed his diagnostic spell and guided the wand over the man's head, as he suspected it vibrated immediately picking up on internal damage. Thinking the skull might've cracked, he cast a quick spell to heal a fracture and it landed so he'd been right and now it was fixed but it was probably worse than that. He tried again but it still vibrated, trying to remember the movements he flicked his wrist to check for bleeding and it buzzed again. He sighed.

"What?"

"Brain jamage," Lawson explained as he cast a spell to stop the bleeding, or more like freeze it, "Brains are complicated. I can't just heal it, I'd need to make a potion. I temborarily stop the bleeding to buy him time but that's all I can do."

"Then get away from him, you worthless idiot," the female Auror snapped and Lawson immediately backed off fearfully with his hands up, though he thought she was being a little unfair. He'd done more then _she_ had after all, "And drop that wand, you don't need it anymore."

"Shouldn't we get out of here?" the guard was saying to Arnett as Lawson threw down his wand, he hadn't been paying attention to their conversation and the wife was now consoling her son, "Or do something?"

"We can't," Arnett answered through gritted teeth, his face twisting with annoyance, "Our first priority to keep the prisoners secured, even if there's not much _left_ of them, we're obligated to stay here."

"Now kick it over to me," the female Auror ordered him and Lawson tried to comply, aim was difficult to carry out though and he accidentally kicked it into the pit, "Idiot! The ruins of New Azkaban are down there!"

"Are all the prisoners down there?" the muggle guard asked, looking somewhere between surprised and confused.

"Except the Shadow prisoners," Arnett admitted irritably, tightening his grip on his wand, "They had already vanished from their cells by the time we got there, Specters no doubt."

"We secured the rest though, for all the good it does," the female Auror added as Lawson was momentarily distracted by Arnett casting the Patronus Charm, summoning a rat like the one they'd just seen that raced around them. Likely a precaution against Specters, "They didn't have wands so they couldn't protect themselves magically like we could and got fucked up royally when the prison got smashed into the ground. Almost all of them are dead, dying or still severely injured down there, none of them are in a state to actually _do_ anything."

"I can't believe I'm stuck guarding that worthless garbage when the Shadow Master is _here_."

"Do you think Mother is down there?" Sly's voice queried and Lawson's eyes drifted to the pit they'd said was where the prison was, he realized she had to be down there but he found it hard to muster up concern. She'd been the one who actually killed Whit after all, she hadn't even _tried_ to save her. She'd never cared, "Good riddance."

"If they're secure, why can't we just leave them here?" the other muggle guard spoke up for the first time, his voice desperately pleading, "Why can't we just leave them here to die and save ourselves?"

"I just said-" Arnett started to say through gritted teeth, trying to fold and failing to fold his arms due to the injured one, but was interrupted.

"This city is nothing but ruins now!" the scared muggle shrieked, "We can just say we lost track of where the prison was, they're not going to be able to prove whether we did or not!"

"He has a point," the female Auror agreed, looking thoughtful as she tapped the bottom of her chin with the tip of her wand while Arnett's mouth snapped shut, "They can't blame us for leaving the prisoners if we didn't even know where they were."

"Hmm… it would be good if we could leave them," Arnett admitted, scratching his chin and Lawson felt an uncomfortable feeling beginning to squirm in his gut, "You could get them to safety and make sure help arrives if the Patronus didn't make it thanks to more Shadow bullshit and we could go after the Shadow Master while we have the chance. And if we didn't know where the prisoners were their health wouldn't be prioritized over the more deserving survivors, they're just a drain on our resources anyway… there's not many negatives to this plan."

"Exactly!" the scared muggle cried.

"But we have a prisoner with us already…" the guard with a family pointed out and at once, all eyes and were suddenly on Lawson.

"H- Hey, you don't have to worry about me!" Lawson insisted shakily, desperately, continuing to hold up his hands in a gesture of innocence, "I'm non your side. I've been good- I even helped! And who cares about bhe other prisoners anyway? Mot ne! I'll be good, I promise. Please. Please, believe me. I won't tell anyone, I swear I won't."

"Don't worry, Atoll," Arnett smiled, moving his wand, "I believe you."

Lawson gasped – and heard the boy scream – as a sharp pain shot through his stomach, he staggered at a sudden weight. He looked down in horror, heart beating in his ears. Some kind of _bar_ was now sticking out of him, sticking _through_ him, and it was completely coated in a sheet of his own crimson blood. His mouth continued to hang open as he looked back up to see if anyone was going to try helping him, Arnett flicked his wand again and Lawson screamed as he felt the bar _twist_ inside him. He could barely _breath_ at the agony it caused, he struggled to stay on his feet as he teetered closer to the pit.

"Looks like another inmate was killed in the attack," Arnett stated coldly, Lawson noticed none of the muggles would even _look_ at him, "Died from his injures. Oh well."

With that, the female Auror pushed him. It was such a gentle push, he wouldn't have thought it would be enough to do anything but his balance was severely off from having a thick bar speared through him. He felt like everything was moving in slow motion as his feet fumbled and he toppled, toppled _right_ over the edge and fell, plunging him into painful darkness…


	25. IIX: First Aid

_**Thanks so much to:** Judal Hiwatari, laceyowens50, bratwurst and Colin Creevey for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Is Lawson dyslexic/dyspraxic?_**  
 _He's severely dyslexic though its undiagnosed_

 _ **Do they (the Malfoys) have any significance?**  
Probably  
_

 _ **The 3 headed dog reminds Sol of Lysel, I bet it means something?**  
Its just because he knows Lysel is a werewolf so things to do with wolves and dogs remind him of Lysel  
_

* * *

"Get up, you worthless fuck!" a familiar voice yelled angrily.

Lawson whimpered as he felt his stepfather's foot collide with his stomach, weakly he tried to curl his body further into a protective ball but moving hurt too much. _Everything_ hurt too much. Bryan must have beaten him pretty badly, so badly he couldn't even remember it. He had to struggle to stay this conscious, the fact the ground was very hard and oddly cold did not discourage drowsiness right now.

"I said get _up_ , Lawson!" his stepfather snapped and kicked again, Lawson tried to cry out but it hurt so badly but he couldn't speak…? "I know I didn't hurt you _that_ badly, get the fuck up!"

He opened and closed his mouth, realizing it was coated with the coppery taste of blood. Concern shot through the pain and survival instinct compelled him to try move again, feeling an oddly warm sticky liquid against his fingers. Falling back into a peaceful painless sleep was looking rather enticing compared to worrying about this, was probably overall worse for his health though…

"Lawson!" his stepfather barked and kicked yet again, somehow managing to kick the pain _through_ him, "If I have to get your mother to heal you again then I'm getting the fucking bat!"

Lawson's eyes snapped open in terror at the thought of the bat, what he saw in the dim gloom was somehow more horrifying though. There was a bar sticking out of him, out of his own stomach and coated in his own blood which was starting to pool beneath him. Someone was standing there too, a child's bare feet were standing in his blood. He let his eyes follow upwards, seeing a pristine white dress and finally his own daughter's face. She giggled, tucking her dark hair back behind her ears as she always liked it.

"Daddy, just how fucked in the head are you to see Bryan? Seriously," Whit chided him with a shake of her head, still looking amused but nonetheless she offered him a hand to help him up.

He smiled at the sight of her safe and sound, despite the distant ringing of alarm bells in his mind as it fumbled to find the foggy memories explaining his situation. He reached out to take her hand, only for his hand to fall right through and he hit the ground painfully, a pang echoing out as the bar struck the concrete. He couldn't even gasp, the pain was so overwhelming but Whit laughed.

"Fucking idiot!" Whit spat at him and he opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd been closing, remembering as he did so, "I'm dead! How the hell were you expecting me to help you up when I'm not even _here_? Idiot."

Lawson breathed out blood, feeling dumb as he instead tried to pull himself up as gently as possible to avoid aggravating his injury and almost fell again as he put his hand on a stupid stick. Not a stick, the _wand_ , he realized and tried to keep it in hand as he attempted to sit up. He ended up half-kneeling and half-sitting as he leaned against the wall for much needed support, it was very difficult with a beam spearing him and it made it impossible to sit against the wall. He had to get it out.

Shakily he raised the wand and turned it inward awkwardly to aim at the beam sticking out of his abdomen, he tried to spit out the blood but so much of it stayed stuck to the inside of his mouth he wasn't sure how much it helped, it wouldn't stop pooling in his stomach until he got the beam out anyway. Watching his scarred hand tremble before him, he started to wonder about whether he could even cast this spell. _If you don't you're dead_ , a voice in his mind told him coldly and he shivered, he already felt completely chilled through to the bone, even his sweat felt like ice.

"Hope you fail and die!" Whit offered cheerfully, grinning and giving him a peace sign.

Trying to brace himself, Lawson wrenched his wand and tried to say the spell. A scream escaped him as the bar ripped through him, clattering loudly to the ground on the other side of… wherever the hell he was. He struggled to breathe through the pain, darkness trying to drown him and drag him unconscious, beautifully dead unconscious. The pain was _so_ bad.

"Why are you trying so hard to stay alive?" his mother's voice questioned icily and Lawson's eyes snapped back open, feeling tears as he fought to stay awake, "No one actually wants you to be alive, no one has _ever_ wanted you to be alive. _No one_."

"It's just because he's a coward," Whit told her as Lawson touched his free hand to the hole in his chest and feeling the blood pouring out between his fingers, he needed to stop the bleeding.

He leaned back against the wall and tried to mumble the spell, focusing on performing the correct wand movement like he'd done for that Auror- he'd practically saved that guy's life and they'd just thrown him in a pit to die! Bastards. He supposed that's what he got for helping people, they were always going to just fuck you over in the end.

Lawson gasped as he felt the spell connect, it was as if he'd just pressed ice into his stomach. He shuddered, he already felt like he was freezing from the inside out, which was a sign he'd already lost way too much blood. It didn't help him stay awake though, his body craved unconsciousness but his mind knew better.

"It won't last forever, you know?" Whit pointed out and he stopped his head from nodding to look back to her, "You need real medical attention or you're still going to die."

"I don't know about medical attention but New Azkaban _does_ have an infirmary," Sly added, Lawson blinked and saw his son standing there too with his arms crossed, a confident smirk on the face that should've aged since the last time he'd seen him, "It has to be stocked with some medical supplies."

"That would buy him time," Whit conceded, "He's in dire need of Blood-Replenishing Potion."

"Too bad he's too weak to get up, it's absolutely pathetic."

"So close and yet so far."

"At least we get to watch him die."

"I hope it hurts even more then the pain right now."

Lawson blinked his eyes back open, he had to at least try to make it. His head lolled weakly as he tried to get his bearings, straight up he could see the sky with a hint of color as the dawn started to touch the world, a bloody dawn he was sure. He didn't think the Aurors had been kidding when they said the Shadow Master had smashed New Azkaban into the ground, they were pretty far down and he could see the prison folding in above him- they had probably helped to break the fall now that he thought about it, bouncing off them as he fell would explain why he felt battered.

He could make out cells with bars bend and twisted like pipe cleaners, mangled bodies and misplaced limbs were mashed into their cages, smashed up when the prison had been. He found it hard to pity them, he was sure not all of them were that bad but the interactions he'd had had been _that_ bad, the Aurors usually didn't bother to interfere and so some prisoners in particular he had _wished_ were dead. Still, he wasn't in a hurry to see the gory details, he'd had enough of that. He thought some prisoners might even still be alive, if the occasional moans and pleas for help were anything to go by. He wondered if any would last until help arrived, he wondered if his 'wife' would be one of them, he wondered if she was still singing the Shadows' praises now.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he lowered his head. He _thought_ he was still on the ground floor, the infirmary had to be around here somewhere. With great effort, he pushed himself off the ground and struggled to get to his feet, hugging the wall for support as his legs wobbled weakly beneath him. Standing made him feel sick, whatever was left of his stomach was churning nauseously. He may have temporarily stopped the bleeding but that didn't mean he hadn't already lost a lot of blood, the pain was also still _really_ bad. He had to do this though, he was dead if he couldn't.

"You're dead," Whit insisted as he tried to get his bearings and not listen to them, he _had_ to focus right now.

"Just give up," Sly agreed as Lawson started down the corridor he thought, guessed and hoped was the right one to get to the infirmary.

"Just give up and die."

Lawson stumbled forwards feebly, he was dizzy and staggering so badly he feared he would fall even with one hand gripping at the wall while the other grasped at his wound. He lurched with every step, swaying so unsteadily he thought he might throw up while darkness swarmed his vision threatening to drag him to death. Pain was his tether to consciousness, it spasmed through his movement and kept making him blink back the dark and the urge to vomit.

"You deserve the dark.

"You deserve to die."

"Why are you even trying to survive?"

He just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, he struggled to see with the dark and wasn't even sure he trusted his eyes right now. Ahead the corridor stretched out and twisted as if it had been rotated, it was uneven and he wasn't sure if he was walking on the floor or the wall, both were identical concrete. It might be because of the damage to the prison, might be his own mind, he had no idea.

"You'll never make it, there's no point trying."

"Just lie down and die."

"Die like you deserve."

Lawson stumbled, almost tripping and falling because the ground was so uneven and slamming into the wall. He leaned against it for a second, trying to breath and blink away the encroaching darkness, he could feel his legs literally shaking beneath him. He had to press forwards, he put one foot in front of the other and tried to grab the wall for support before realizing it was a door frame. The door itself was most definitely at an angle, almost falling off its hinges because of the damage to the frame. The whole thing bowed and the steel door had been pushed out of its place, he saved him having to unlock it. He picked his head up and noticed there were letters above the door that hopefully said infirmary:

 _IVEI1QNABJ_

Close enough.

"Fucking retard," Whit complained at him.

He shuffled forward and pushed the door open, leaning against it with his shoulder to make it easier and stumbled into the room. There was a lone table bolted into the ground much like the interrogation room which was probably why that was fine, everything else was a smashed mess in the corner, looked like the remnants of a couple of beds and maybe chairs? He just knew beds because the broken mattresses bent back like their spines had been snapped, they were being impaled by pieces of the frame.

The medical supplies cabinet was built into the wall too so thankfully was also in place, he didn't like how small it was though- like two muggle lockers. In fact that reminded him, it would be locked. He stopped a few feet directly in front of it and held out the wand, practicing he wrist movement a few times as he tried to remember it and articulate it correctly.

" _Alohomora!_ " Lawson cast and the doors sprang open with surprising obedience.

He stumbled towards them and was relieved to see the vials were intact, it was pretty standard to charm them to be unbreakable. They had a few shelves on the top half while there was a supply of wound dressings and cloth hanging beneath them, naturally they were unaffected. There were less supplies then he'd hoped but it wasn't unexpected, he was further disappointed as he started checking them and trying to make a mental inventory of what they had. Not everything they had would be useful to him and some things that would be useful they didn't have, it was clearly intended more for just stabilizing injuries not actually fixing the problem. Like there was nothing for internal injuries, nothing that would even fix the entry and exit wound because it needed regrowth not just repair- there was nothing that would've helped that Auror's brain damage either.

There was a small vial of Strengthening Solution which he downed immediately, he was going to need all the energy he muster to have a chance of survival. They also did have Blood-Replenishing Potion at least, it was still only a small supply which was again clearly just geared towards keeping people alive before getting more serious treatment but better than nothing. He took whatever was useful to him and carried it back over to the table, the table he saw his children were standing around now.

"Don't you love us, Daddy?" Whit questioned of him as he put down the supplies.

"Of _course_ ," Lawson couldn't help but insist, his voice weak and hoarse and the taste of blood in his mouth still nauseating, "Of course I love you."

"Then why won't you die?" Sly queried.

"We'd _really_ like for you to die, Daddy," Whit agreed.

Turning back to his supplies, he took mouthful of the water bottle to try washing the blood out of his mouth, spitting a bloody glob onto the floor. His mouth wasn't perfect clear but he didn't want to risk wasting more water on it, cleaning the wound was more important because it got infected he was super fucked. He took a swig of Blood-Replenishing Potion - he'd have to guess the correct intervals to take it at – before taking off the tattered threadbare prison shirt to make it easier to get at the wounds, it was almost as cold without the shirt as it was with it. He looked down beyond his xylophonic ribs at the injury, roughly the size of his hand he thought.

He just had to clean, sterilize and bandage himself up... Simple. He took the water bottle and poured some of it over the wound on his back as best he could, shuddering as the cold liquid ran down his spine and quickly did the same with more accuracy on his stomach. He poured the last of it onto a cloth he'd also gotten from the cabinet – they had had several – to wipe away any remaining blood around the wounds, he then used a dry one to wipe away the wet. Now for the hard part.

Lawson swallowed and picked up the shiny bottle of Antiseptic Potion in one hand, he put his free hand on the table to brace himself. Finally, he reached back and started to pour the potion on the entrance wound in his back and immediately any concern of missing the wound evaporated quickly. He screamed and slammed the potion back down on the table for safety as the pain from the wound increased tenfold, if it had hurt before it felt like he'd lit it on fire now. His trembling legs tried to give way but he resisted the new darkness dancing around his vision, he could take it.

He wobbled there for a minute, breathing heavily as the stinging agony gradually numbed. Unfortunately he wasn't done torturing himself yet though and picked up the potion once more, not giving himself time to hesitate as he poured it with even more pain-inducing accuracy over and into the stomach exit wound. He screamed again and then screamed again as it shot through him, lancing through him like he'd been stabbed again except with something spiked. The bottle dropped to the ground as he fell to his knees, gasping and gripping the table for dear life to stop himself from falling completely.

He grit his teeth, waiting as the pain gradually receded to be more bearable and he could open eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed again. He knew it probably felt like it lasted longer than it actually did but that didn't really help. Finally it faded enough for him to fumble for the bandages, pressing the gauze into the wounds as hard as he could bring himself with the bolt of pain it caused and awkwardly wrapping the bandages around his midriff as tightly as he could, the more secure the better. As his spell started to wear off he'd begin to bleed again, the bandages would be essential in stemming the blood flow until he could get proper healing. He pulled his shirt back on, took another swig of Blood-Replenishing Potion and just sat there on the ground, leaning against the table for support.

"I'm glad that fucking hurts," Whit commented and Lawson reopened his eyes, seeing his kids had moved in front of him again.

"You deserve the pain," Sly agreed, folding his arms as the pair looked down on him disapprovingly.

"Don't even _think_ of taking that Pain-Relief Potion."

"We want your death to be painful."

"Why are you being so mean to me?" Lawson questioned of them unhappily.

"Because we hate you," Whit scoffed readily.

"Duh," Sly agreed with a roll of his eyes, "We always hated you."

"Everyone hates you."

"You're worthless."

"Do something useful for once and die."

"The world will be a better place."

"Just leave me alone," Lawson sighed and rubbed his temple, he did still actually have that headache.

"Telling your dead children to leave you alone?" Whit wondered and Lawson jolted as he heard an odd clanging sound back the way they'd came, "What an asshole, most people would be happy."

"You're the worst father ever," Sly agreed but Lawson was distracted by the sounds.

"Shut up!" Lawson hissed at them and they paused to listen.

"Sounds kinda like footsteps."

"Maybe it's the Aurors come to kill you," Whit pointed out proudly, smirking as she folded her arms.

Feeling fear sinking in again, Lawson struggled to his feet, snatched the wand back before staggering over to the cabinet. For once being a bag bones came in handy, he felt like a child again as he pressed himself into the bottom below the shelves and pulled the door closed. It made his heart start to pound in fear at the enclosed space but he tried to trick his mind by gazing out of the slits. He could definitely hear footsteps, though he also thought they sounded wrong somehow and… was that screaming he could hear?

"A grown man cowering in a cabinet," Sly wondered from outside, his words drowning in disapproval.

"You're pathetic," Whit spat at him much closer and he almost fell out of the cabinet in shock as he saw she was hiding in there with him now.

He was considering opening his mouth to defend his actions when he had to resist the urge to jump again, caught off-guard as the door burst open. His eyes widened involuntarily in terror at what he saw and he immediately clasped his free hand over his mouth, scared to make a sound, scared even that the scarce breathing he allowed was too loud, scared his own heartbeat would somehow be heard because the pummeling against his eardrums was so loud.

He was right that it had been footsteps from a person, except it wasn't a _living_ person. Not anymore. It was one of the prisoners, the same stripped clothing he had was the most visible thing about it aside from its empty milk pool eyes which seemed to gleam even in this gloom. He wasn't sure who it had been, he definitely hadn't known this person well enough to be able to recognize them with the magic morphing them, the unusually waxy skin stretched in a way to make it unnaturally gaunt. They had clearly been crushed, the chest was all caved in with bloody broken bones sticking out and one of the arms was gone too, ending at the elbow with a snapped bone jutting out like a sharpened shank.

He'd heard the Shadows used Inferi but he hadn't expected to actually _see_ one, it moved like a puppet not a person and in a jerky way no human would but at the same time it didn't seem remotely hindered by this nor the fatally severe injuries. He didn't doubt it was dangerous, it could probably tear him to shreds in a second flat, he wouldn't stand a chance… His stomach suddenly lurched in his chest at the sickening thought _that_ could've been how Sly died.

As if in response to that thought, the Inferius grabbed Sly and jabbed its jutting out arm bone into his stomach as if it were a sword. Lawson jolted again and pressed his hand further against his mouth to stop himself from crying out like Sly had, he squeezed his eyes shut as the thing tore off the boy's arm though the screams rang clear in the empty halls. _It's not real_ , he tried to remind himself firmly though he could still feel his tears running silently down against his hand.

"But is the Inferius real?" Whit wondered curiously as he started to hear movement again.

He opened his eyes, noticing it slinking away. There was no trace of Sly now. He slowly uncurled his fingers from his face, unsure now whether the Inferius was real but not unsure enough to risk his life on it. He shakily sipped on his Blood-Replenishing Potion, straining his ears and though the screams had died down he still heard movement. It was far enough away to not be in the medical room but too near to be from the surface, the sounds were still coming from inside the prison. Or whatever was left of the prison anyway.

He waited, straining his ears to hear the sounds of movement and… clanging? They seemed to be receding, getting further away from him until he was left alone in his silent little bubble. Immediately his heart began to pound again, without the distraction he was suddenly left very acutely aware that he was in a very small enclosed space.

"It's safer in here," Whit whispered to him.

Lawson nodded, well aware this was true and tried to sip on the Blood-Replenishing Potion but the anxiety continued to boil inside him, his mangled stomach managing to twist even more into knots. He could barely even _move_ in here, there was no space, there was no light. Just darkness pressing down on him, he couldn't even breathe anymore as he was hyperventilating. He pushed his way out of the cabinet, not even caring about the pain or how loud he was being as he fell out onto the cold concrete, at least there was space here, at least there was air.

"You're pathetic," Whit complained of him as he lay there breathing heavily, "You're more afraid of irrational nothingness then an actual threat! Worthless fuck."

"Shut up," Lawson whimpered unhappily, pulling himself to his feet and shivering at the cold, "I think they're gone anyway."

"Thinking isn't knowing, Lawson," his stepfather's voice growled and he jumped, turning but saw only Whit. He swallowed fearfully.

"We can't stay here anyway, I've bought myself time but I still need proper healing," Lawson insisted, feeling more confident as he spoke, "I can die waiting for help that's never coming or go out and search for it, there's a risk of death but also a chance of success if I leave but there's no hope if I stay here. We have to leave, it's the only choice that makes sense."

"There is no 'we,'" Whit pointed out, "It's just you, Dad, you're completely alone here."

"Well then _I_ am going, if the Inferius – if it was even real in the first place - isn't gone by now then it'll never be gone and I'm dead either way. Better die trying then die doing nothing… Right?"

"I don't care."

Lawson sighed, rubbing briefly at his still aching head and taking another swig of Blood-Replenishing Potion before starting towards the door. That and the Strengthening Solution were doing their job, he had bruises still aching, cuts still stinging and pain still pulsating out of his stomach _but_ he didn't feel about to keel over anymore. The Strengthening Solution wouldn't last forever but for now he was good, might as well take advantage of it while he could. He looked back to see if Whit was following him but saw only an empty room now, sadly he glanced at the letters above the door:

 _IMFIBVARY_

Better…

He trudged back the way he'd came, finding it was easier leaving then arriving though he was still moving slowly because movement still tugged at the pain in his stomach. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, carefully continuing on and returning to the main… chamber? He'd go with chamber. He looked up and swallowed nervously, he didn't like what he saw.

They were empty. Every last cell was now vacant, there were a few scatterings of limbs and enough blood to keep a coven of vampires happy but all of the actual _bodies_ were gone. And then the actual cells themselves now had bars bent of place, all of them giving a wide enough space for the occupant to get out. Lawson closed his eyes, why would things ever _not_ get worse?

"Seems a little emptier then the last time we were here…" Whit commented and he looked to his left to see her standing once more, leaning against the wall with her arms folded, "I guess your Inferius friend was real after all."

"Yeah," Lawson agreed with a sigh, "If I had to guess I'd say she raised all the dead prisoners and they killed all the survivors, then she probably raised them too. The question is if she's just doing this for the prison or whether she's doing it for the whole city, if it's the latter we're super fucked instead of just regular fucked."

"I told you to stay in the locker."

"I'm still fucked if I stay! The Inferi make it even _more_ unlikely that help is coming here any time soon, I need to get out of here."

"Uh-huh, and how exactly do you plan on doing that? The surface is all the way up there."

"Everyone else managed to get out of here, we'll just do whatever they did," Lawson informed her and surveyed the scene, it was lighter now so easier to see and he spotted what looked like hastily conjured steps jutting out the far wall, "See, Whit? We just follow that stairway to hell and we're good."

"I think you may have a fundamental misunderstanding of the word 'good' but okay, Dad, whatever you say."

* * *

"Oh hey Michael," a familiar voice offered pleasantly and Michael jolted awake in surprise, finding himself with his head on the kitchen table beside the half-drunk bottle of liquor, "I didn't know you were up this early."

"Yeah I was just… I couldn't sleep," Michael muttered sleepily, raising and rubbing his head at the same time to see Hermione was the speaker. He was reminded sadly of Rose, even in such low light, "Wait… What time is it?"

"Four in the morning, a little after," Hermione answered and he hastily shoved the bottle until the table as she approached, she was already fully dressed and scowling, "Were you drinking?"

"No…" Michael lied as she caught his eye, she didn't look convinced but he didn't want to dwell on it, "Could you not sleep either?"

"No, I was contacted because there was another attack. New Azkaban prison this time, and the surrounding city," Hermione explained grimly, breaking eye contact, "You should get dressed."

"Yeah, I'll err… I'll go do that," Michael agreed, he _was_ only wearing pajama bottoms.

He got up, quickly dropping the glass into the sink on his way out and being careful to keep the bottle hidden by his body as he left the kitchen. Out of her sight, he snuck the bottle back into the liquor cabinet and returning to the garage where his clothes were as it was his 'room' right now. It only occurred to him after getting there that he didn't really know why he'd agreed to do it, they didn't usually have anything to do with attacks and he was still tired. He'd already agreed though so grumpily he started getting dressed, he supposed at least he hadn't had another nightmare. He pulled on some jeans, boots and a t-shirt before heading back to the kitchen, finding Hermione was now speaking with Latimer and that Ron had also joined them.

"Oh, hey Lat," Michael wondered in surprise to see his friend, "What are you doing here?"

"Varanian told me to go deal with this," Latimer answered with a yawn, for some reason Michael felt inexplicitly irritated, "Sorry."

"He's supposed to be our leader, when is he going to start fucking acting like it?" Michael shot out before he could stop himself, folding his arms crossly.

"I don't think you can really blame him for not wanting to hang out with the Aurors, plus he's busy."

"What's happening?" Cassia asked sharply, strolling into the kitchen before Michael could demand to know what exactly he was busy with because it sure as hell seemed like he was doing sweet fuck all from their perspective.

"Just another attack we were going to check out, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, Michael, why don't you go with Latimer?" Hermione suggested, "Your healing skill would likely be of us."

"Fine," Michael agreed more grumpily then he intended, still feeling pissed off with Varanian.

"Can I come?" Cassia asked.

"No," the adults shot her down immediately and she scowled darkly.

"Ron isn't allowed to come either, don't take it personally," Hermione told her before she could complain, this might've satiated her slightly but it upset Ron.

"Why can't I come?" Ron complained, "They said the attack was over."

"They said it looked over, it's still not worth the risk."

"Then you shouldn't-"

"I'm not going to the site, Michael is going with him instead and I'll be back to the Ministry HQ."

"Okay," Ron sighed unhappily and Hermione gave him a peck on the check in farewell.

"See you soon, hon."

"Guess it's just you and me, kid," Ron said to Cassia as the rest of them headed out, the girl was folding her arms crossly.

Michael briefly checked on the injured on his way out, making sure they were still stable when he left them. Outside, Hermione took them by side-along apparation since she knew where they were going, Michael wasn't sure he'd know where they were going even if he'd been told. He knew places were being attacked but he still hadn't expected to be greeted by the sight of a city leveled to the ground, _pieces_ of buildings were still standing but most of it was just an outline of destruction beneath a bloody sky. He kind of regretted not just staying in bed.

They were only on the outskirts and they weren't alone, Harry Potter was speaking to a short rattish man with a limp arm and a bloody head wound. Further off he saw some kind of family, some medi-wizards were taking care of some injured Aurors. Naturally it was Harry they approached though Michael was more focused on the injured guy, he was sitting on some rubble while Harry was standing looking rather irate.

"-I mean how can you lose a _prison_?!" Harry was saying, glowering at the shorter man who looked rather irritated himself, "You had one job, Arnett, and- Oh hey."

"Hi Harry," Hermione offered, "Just dropping off these folks from Gray, I'll speak to later at the debriefing."

"Want some help with your arm?" Michael offered to Arnett whose expression had switched to one of surprise.

"Err… Sure," the Auror agreed.

Michael crouched by him, getting out his wand to check the head injury first while Harry started conversing with Latimer about the events. He half listened as he focused on diagnostics, though still learning some of the Aurors had been possessed by Specters once the attack started which was both how Arnett had been injured and how they'd apparently lost track of where the prison was in the chaos. On the bright side, the head wound looked worse than it was. He had a concussion but it was mild, not too serious, and the skull was intact.

"So are you guys really from Gray?" Arnett wondered curiously.

"Of course we are," Michael snapped more testily then he'd meant to, healing the gash regardless.

"Yes, they are our allies now," Harry added, briefly distracted from his conversation with Latimer and Michael realized Hermione had left at some point while he'd been healing, "Gotta be more inclusive."

"Neat," Arnett offered while the others went back to talking and Michael started checking the arm, he sighed in annoyance, "What?"

"This is a pretty simple break, you _really_ couldn't heal this?" Michael complained at him, which seemed to sour the Auror's mood as his beady brown eyes glowered irritably.

"I'm an _Auror_ not a Healer."

"Fine," Michael grumbled, feeling irritated himself as he went back to repairing the arm along with some more minor wounds he'd acquired, "You're going to need some aftercare potions but you'll need a qualified Healer to provide and prescribe those, just something to properly repair the… You know I'll just go ask those guys if they have a potion for it."

"Thanks," Arnett offered more kindly, testing his healed arm as Michael left him to it and went over to a medi-witch was putting the other Auror on a stretcher while the medi-wizard was tending to the female Auror.

"Hi," Michael greeted them with an attempt at a smile, trying to be more pleasant as he explained the situation to her, "So do you have any of that?"

"Not anymore, I already used it on this man," the medi-witch told him, nodding to the unconscious Auror as she levitated the stretcher, "The brain damage was quite severe, he was incredibly lucky someone stabilized the wound until we could get to him. I can get you some if you wait here though, I need to drop him off for transfer and they should've brought more supplies."

"Thanks," Michael offered as she levitated the man away towards a large white tent which had been erected. He fidgeted idly, he thought it would be rude to interfere with the other medi-wizard so decided to address the female Auror to kill the time, "Nice job with stabilizing your buddy."

"What?" she wondered in surprise, her long-lashed eyes widening, "That wasn't me, I don't know anything about healing."

"Oh," Michael muttered in disappointment, so much for trying to find something in common. Stupid Aurors and their stupid not-knowing-healing.

"One of the others fixed him up, Arnett I think."

"Wha-"

"Here," the medi-witch interrupted, distracting Michael from his mild confusion and he noticed she was carrying some kind of satchel – identical to the one both she and the medi-wizard had strung around their shoulders - as well as a small vial. He offered his hand to take the vial but she preceded to hand him both.

"Um… what is-"

"It's a medical kit," she explained and Michael flipped it open, seeing it contained numerous vials of different potions as well as some bandages, "We carry them with us all the time, I thought it might be useful to you."

"This seems _very_ useful, thank you," Michael confirmed gratefully, how often had he had just a wand when it needed potion-care? "Though are you sure it's okay to just give me one?"

"Well you're Gray, aren't you? We're supposed to be working together, sharing resources and stuff so why not? Like I said we all have them, it's pretty standard for medi-wizards. Just make good use of it, the more lives we can save."

"Yeah…" Michael mused, an image of Rose dying flashing in front of his eyes again as he closed the satchel and slung it over his shoulder also, "I'll do my best."

The medi-witch gave him a kind smile before turning away to go over to the family further off, if Michael didn't know better he'd say the boy was eying the Aurors with fear, he supposed any kid would be terrified after surviving their home being razed to the ground. Putting the child out of his mind he headed back over to Arnett who was having his face snogged off by a very curvaceous Auror, that or she was trying to suck his face off at the mouth.

"Blythe, get back to the perimeter," Harry growled at her as she pulled away, she had night black hair and bright pink lips, "We need to locate the prison, the last thing we want right now is some of them PAW nutbags getting out when the Shadows need to be our only prioity."

"I told you, we secured them," Arnett insisted distractedly as Blythe turned, blowing him a kiss before disapparating with a loud crack.

"And I told you to guard the damn prison."

* * *

Lawson made his way up the steps awkwardly, aside from being pretty awkwardly made he was just constantly torn between the urge to go quickly because he was on borrowed time and the urge to go slowly because of the pain climbing stairs was causing the hole in his gut. In the end it was a lot more grueling then he had expected and he finished up the Blood-Replenishing Potion but he made it back to surface, to the bleeding sky.

He sighed, shivering at the breeze now he was above the sheltered pit of the former prison as he scanned the ruined landscape. The city was kind of like a dump except less garbagey now, the Shadow Master had razed the place to the ground. It was quiet now, there was no screaming which was worse than the chaos of last night, at least there had been _life_ not this silence. Just empty silence.

He didn't see any people but he didn't see any sign of the Inferi either, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The dead Aurors' bodies were gone. All directions looked pretty much the same so he just put on foot in front of the other, arms clutched around his wound. He just wandered aimlessly in the hopes of finding people, surely he'd been down there long enough that help had started arriving for the populace of… Whereversville, he wasn't actually sure where New Azkaban was.

"What are you even going to do if you do find help?" Whit questioned and he glanced to his left to see she was walking by his side again, tucking her dark hair back behind her ears, "The Aurors want to _kill_ you, remember? Especially now you're the last prisoner. Face it, your execution is far more efficient then to expend resources guarding you."

"That is true," Lawson confirmed unhappily, frowning but not seeing an immediate solution to his problem, "I don't really-"

 _Crack!_

At the sound of apparation, he panicked and immediately threw himself behind the nearest clump of rubble. Immediately regretting his hastiness at the sharp stab of pain that shot through his stomach, he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from crying out.

"Idiot," Whit chided him. She wasn't wrong.

"I don't see why we have to look for this stupid fucking prison anyway," a deep male voice immediately started complaining, sounding rather irate, "It's their damn problem not ours."

"Well we're allies now, it's not like PAW breaking out would be good for the rest of us anyway," a second male voice answered much more calmly, "Besides, if nothing else it gives us the chance to look around in the immediate aftermath and _that's_ good for us."

Intrigued, Lawson poked his head his head over the rubble to get a look at the speakers. It was two men, the shorter one seemed younger – early twenties, maybe even late teens – with cropped black hair and skin buried in pockmarks, he walked with a limp too. The taller one looked older, his hair was a tangled mess of brown shades threaded with gray and his face had a lot of stubble as well as a scar through a golden eye. He wore casual muggle clothes, unlike the other who had black robes, including a t-shirt which showed off both decently muscled arms as well as horrible scars from burns on one arm. What stood out most to Lawson though, was the brown medical satchel slung around his shoulder… some kind of non-uniformed Healer? He shivered suddenly, cold creeping through his veins.

"Why?" the taller one grunted, clearly the irritated one, "What does it matter? I could see the destruction just fine from where I was standing with the Healers, you know where I was doing actual productive things."

"We want to help not do their job and information is useful," the pockmarked one said, seemingly unfazed by his companion's foul mood, "This isn't what the destruction is like in other countries."

"She's pissed, we get it!"

"But there's stuff we _don't_ get," Pockmark insisted, actually coming to a halt and gesturing around them, "Look around us, if she could do all this then why did she toy with the Aurors? Why possess some to make them fight when she could crush them like ants? Why get bored and quit? Doesn't it seem like she could have something planned?"

"I don't know, Lat! It's too freaking early to be thinking about things that lunatics do," the other one complained, rubbing at his eyes and his companion – Lat? – frowned while Lawson continued to shiver, internally debating what he should do.

"Is that alcohol on your breath?"

"No!" the taller one spat, stepping back and throwing out his hands but seemingly changed his mind, "Maybe, what the fuck does it matter? I'm of age, I can drink if I want to!"

"You _can_ but you were trying not to," Lat pointed out, looking rather concerned but still unfazed by the other's anger. There was a long pause but Lawson was distracted, maybe he was hallucinating again or some more but he could've sworn the ground near Lat's feet just shifted, "Are you okay, Michael? You know if you need to- What the-!"

He was cut off as a scabby dead hand shot out of the ground Lawson had been watching, grabbing his foot and yanking him face first to the ground with supernatural strength. The other one – Michael? – cried out in shock and Lawson put his hand over his mouth before he could do the same, there was a burst of blood as a second hand erupted from his back.

Lawson winced and averted his eyes frantically, heart racing again as he looked over the ruined ground for more hands. Recalling the people buried under rubble he'd wondered about before, if they had perished down there they were now poised to be concealed weaponry as Inferi. He suddenly felt as if the floor was made of lava, gazing out it was as still as it had been before. If he couldn't hear a commotion with the two guys, he'd have no idea anything was different.

With that thought, he looked back to them to see how they were doing. The Inferius was now half emerged from the rubble, covered in dust with a skull caved in and a chunk of flesh clutched in the hand on its bloody arm, it was pulling itself out. Michael seemed to have freed Lat, he lying on his side coughing up blood and scrambling for his wand with one hand while clutching at his chest with the other while Michael was on his knees next to him, hyperventilating as he aimed a shaking wand at the target. He seemed to have frozen, or maybe he just wasn't sure what to do.

Lawson wasn't sure what _he_ should do. If he was going to run then now was his best chance, he'd be back to square one though. He'd also be fucked if it spotted him and gave chase, he couldn't move very quickly nor did he have any idea how to stop it. He could just wait here and hope it didn't notice him, with any luck it'd move on when it was done killing them and he could loot that medical kit. He wasn't sure if it would leave though, if it didn't he was just stuck waiting for help that would never come or for it to notice him and tear him to shreds, whichever came first.

"Or you could help them, you worthless fuck!" Whit hissed at him angrily.

"But I don't…" Lawson started to point out he didn't know how to help when an idea did occur to him, he raised his wand in his left hand, "Wingarb- Wingard Lev- _Wingardium Leviosa_."

He aimed the spell at the rags the Inferius wore as it surfaced, attempting to lunge at the others. But it didn't. It _tried_ to move just as Lawson _tried_ to levitate it, both failed and instead it just kind of stayed in place there. He could feel it fighting his spell though, pulling so forcefully he felt as if it was going to rip his arm out. It was going to win, he couldn't hold it forever and he could already feel his strength fading, as well as his resolve. What if it was only after them and he just incurred its wrath? Michael still wasn't doing anything so what would happen when it-

As if in answer to his thoughts, Lat finally succeeded in grabbing his wand and jabbed it towards the creature. A burst of violent flames emerged from tip, engulfing the Inferius in an intense inferno. Lawson lowered his wand as he felt it stop fighting, not sure if it gave up or if the rags had simply been incinerated. At any rate, a smoking pile of blackened bones were what dropped back to the ground. He looked around fearfully for more hands or shifting ground, still nothing.

"Hey Whit, did you see that?" Lawson said to his daughter, grinning weakly, "I _helped_."

"The other dude's the one who torched that thing," Whit scoffed, crossing her arms in disapproval and his spirits deflated a little, "You did fuck all, those guys didn't even notice you existed. You're _useless_."

"Lat!" Michael cried, his anger replaced by fear and Lawson looked back to see Lat had keeled over, the last of his consciousness probably drained at the very _least_.

It seemed to have snapped Michael out of whatever his issues had been, he was now scrambling to help his friend. This Michael _definitely_ seemed to be some kind of Healer though, he immediately started to tend to the wound with a practiced – albeit still shaking – hand. How skilled or professional he was, Lawson had no idea, but he still appeared to know what he was doing. This was it, his best chance at getting medical attention.

"Come on, Lat, stay with me," Michael was mumbling unhappily, "Not like this, please not like this."

Lawson got to his feet nervously but Michael didn't notice, he was at angle with mostly his back facing him and seemed far too distracted by what he was doing regardless. Trying to swallow his nerves, Lawson started making his way over to them. Michael continued to not notice him.

"H- Hey?" Lawson called out, making an effort to speak up as his voice was still rather hoarse. Michael jolted in surprise and jabbed his wand at him, Lawson held up his hands and saw the older man scowl in confusion. Up close, Lawson realized he had heterochromia, his other eye was hazel not gold, "Won't borry, I'm not goning to hurt you. I jusk helped you, didun't you see?"

"No," Michael scoffed, looking even more bewildered before quickly going back to tending to his friend, trying to stem the blood flow.

"Told ya," Whit offered and Lawson saw she was beside him, swaying back and forth smugly on the balls of her feet. He ignored her and lowered his arms as he tried to move closer again, Michael again aimed his wand at him.

"Stay back!" Michael barked at him and Lawson's hands went back up, "Whoever the fuck you are, whatever the fuck you want just leave me _alone_ , I'm trying to save my friend right now and-"

"I can help!" Lawson insisted desperately, the other man continued to look dubious, "I know the healing, halving someone to stemn the bleeding would make it a lot easier to treat then injury, dom't you think? I know to help, I can heal. If you really want your yriend to live this is the best way… and all I aant in return is after he's safed you heal me cause I'm prutty fucked righnt now."

"Maybe," Michael growled but lowered his wand, Lawson lowered his hands slowly but was unsure to continue his approach while Michael went back to Lat briefly. He looked up again with a look of annoyance and jerked his wand, gesturing for Lawson to approach, "Well come here then, you can't fuck help from back there!"

"Sohrry," Lawson offered as he came over, kneeling down beside Michael who had gone back to pouring over the wound. Not that dissimilar from his own except the hole was in his lung, Michael had already conjured a magical bubble around the nose and mouth to help with breathing. Lat looked whiter then a ghost who'd died in their wedding dress, he was barely breathing despite the magical assistance.

"Take over from me while I look for the potion to counter the Dark Magic," Michael commanded and Lawson raised his hand to comply before Michael abruptly grabbed it, he whimpered fearfully at the painfully tight grip and glanced at him. Michael lowered his voice, "If you hurt him or if you're lying about being able to do this and he dies because of you then I am going to kill you, do you understand me?"

Lawson nodded readily, wondering idly if it was as normal to be threatened with death for most people as it was for him. Reluctantly Michael let him go and Lawson rubbed at his wrist, now adding to the minor assortment of aches he was still suffering from in addition to the headache and gaping stomach wound. Michael started looking through the satchel as Lawson attempted to cast the right spell, the incantation was simple enough for him and he managed the wand movement on the second try. He was glad Michael hadn't seen him fail the first attempt, he thought that'd make him mad and spared a glance at him on that thought. For some reason, he was trying to read the labels on the vials in the satchel.

"Fourth thon the right," Lawson told him, Michael threw him a confused look and Lawson averted his eyes back to his task. Lat was bleeding from multiple places, he had to keep moving his wand to keep them all covered.

"How'd you know that?" Michael wondered as he brought the vial over.

"I know potions," Lawson shrugged as Michael poured the potion into the wound, there was a hiss as it connected with the Inferius' Dark Magic and steam started to rise out as it took out the taint, "And I know its spusosed to be thick and purple and it causes those black spleckles on the inside of the glass."

"I'll have to remember that," Michael muttered thoughtfully as he put the empty vial back, waiting for the steam to finish, "Alright so… what's your name again?"

"Lawson."

"Law- Really?" Michael wondered incredulously, "You're a criminal and your name is _Law_ son?"

"I didn't pick ny mame!"

"Well whatever, my name is Michael by the way," Michael told him even though Lawson had already figured that out for himself, "Now that's done I'm going to start healing specific points that are bleeding the worst so when I saw hold for an area, do that. Okay?"

And so it went on. Michael giving basic instructions to aid the treatment of his friend while Lawson obeyed without question, it was a little more intense and advanced then he was used to but he sure as hell didn't let Michael know that and he managed. It was a good thing the tasks got simpler the more time passed though as Lawson could feel the Strengthening Potion starting to fade, concentrating was getting more difficult and the spell stopping his own insides from bleeding out would also slowly expire. He needed healing, he was feeling worse every passing second now.

Lat got lucky, getting the Dark Magic out of his wound so soon probably saved his life. Though it was still a long way to full recovery, he'd be bedridden until his lung regenerated which would take a few weeks to a few months depending on the quality of the tissue regeneration potions. And that was assuming there were no complications, he'd lost a lot of blood too. But that didn't matter, he was stable for now and his bargain had been to do that not weeks of long-term recovery.

"Okay, is okay," Michael said, letting out a long relieved breath and hanging his head, "He's going to be okay."

"Yeahs. So it's _my_ turn now," Lawson pointed out and Michael looked back up, oddly looking a little surprised, "I said I'd help you if you helped me after and you agreed, remeneber?"

"I remember and I will help you, I promise," Michael assured him as he started packing up his satchel, slinging it back over his shoulder, "Just _after_ I drop off Latimer."

"What?! NO!" Lawson screeched in panic, jumping to his feet as Michael did, "You said you'd help me- you even jusp promised you'd help me!"

"Did you listen to what I said?" Michael complained while Lawson glared accusingly at the traitor, "I told you I'd be back to help you after I drop off Latimer, I need to make sure he's okay first and it'd probably be good to replenish some of these potions anyway. I'll come back for you."

"No, you won't!" Lawson spat angrily, frantic and frustrated and feeling close to tears, "You're just leabing me to die!"

"I said I'll be back!"

"Buth that's a lie! It's a lie and you know it! I did whad you wanted- I did the everything that you wanted, I did help to save your friends and you're just leabing me here to die!"

"I'll be back!"

"But you _won't_! I know beople and you just, you're jusp all the same! Same selhish and cruel, you- you yall just take everwhat that you want- and I did everything you wanded and he's gohing to live- and we had a deal and you're jill tust leaving me to rot!" Lawson yelled back lamely as his argument became a jumbled mess, clutching at his head miserably. Annoyed both at his own inability to articulate his words and at humanity in general, at life in general, "I gwas good! I helbed!"

"Look Lawson, I said I'll be back," Michael insisted, sounding exasperated and Lawson saw he was now kneeling by Lat's – or Latimer? – body again, except this time poised to escape, "Just be patient and wait."

 _Crack!_

"Well he's not coming back," Whit scoffed in amusement as Michael disapparated himself and his friend.

Lawson gave a cry frustration and kicked angrily at a stone on the ground, crying again in pain as he potentially broke his toe because the stone didn't move as it was apparently part of larger stone beneath the rubble. He buried his face in his hands, resisting the urge to cry at the unfairness of it all. He'd been _good_ and he'd still been fucked over, just like the Aurors. People just sucked.

"Goddamn it," Lawson muttered, letting out a sigh and lowering his hands, "I can't believe I wasted all that time helping."

"It's your own fault for trusting him," Whit pointed out as he started walking in a random direction which hopefully wasn't the one he'd came from, "I mean, since when did people keep their word?"

"I know," Lawson agreed unhappily, plodding along mechanically while each step pained his injury even more than before, "I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't since I need someone else's medical skill to save me."

"Yeah, you're dead seven ways from Sunday no matter how you slice it."

"Pretty much."

"Then why are you still walking?"

"I don't know, Whit," Lawson admitted truthfully, "It's just hardwired into me to keep fighting, I guess. Maybe I'll get lucky and find other people, maybe I'll just drop somewhere but until I die I can't do anything else except keep putting one foot in front of the oth-"

Lawson was cut off as he instead found himself falling as he tripped over some rebar, he hit the ground hard enough to wind him and then he was rolling, sharp stones and rebar punching at him as he went over them. He finally came to a halt gasping for breath, gazing up at Whit who stood over him laughing hysterically, doubling over in amusement.

"Or you could just roll like a fucking idiot!" Whit pointed out, still laughing but as Lawson went to tell her to stop he realized that beyond that he heard more sounds, sounds akin to voices…or maybe screaming?

"Shut up!" Lawson hissed at her, pulling himself weakly into a sitting position, "I think I hear people..."


	26. IIX: Shadows in the Sunlight

_**Thanks to:** laceyowns50, Guest, SiriusSunday and Colin Creevey for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Where does he (Varanian) go when he's not at Grey locations? Is he just at other places where the characters are not or does he do something else?_**  
 _Where he goes varies. Varanian's a loner, he likes solitude and does his best thinking in solitude so going off alone is pretty normal for him, Michael just blames him for Annie's death so is being especially critical as well. Varanian's also grieving and wants to be alone to do so without being questioned about a billion other things, he's also kind of afraid being around people after blowing up half the house when Michael yelled at him because he knows he's not particularly stable right now. Sometimes he goes to Jack/One, sometimes he's scouting for new bases or old Shadow areas, sometimes he's working on things, sometimes he's researching ideas, sometimes he's just trying to think, sometimes he's just grieving and trying to cope with his own emotions with the weight of the world on his back_

 ** _How long it'll be before Varanian's baby is healthy enough to be discharged from hospital, if it'll be well enough to be discharged from hospital?_**  
 _He'll be allowed to go when he's able to do certain things by himself (like breathe for example) which is usually around the time they should've been born (September 5th) but obviously it can vary and depends on the baby or if there's any complications. So he'd be discharged in about two months if all goes well, the earliest would be late August_

 ** _What month is the story in now?_**  
 _July, the current date in story is Friday July 3rd 2024_

 ** _What did Harry expect Arnett to do to save the prison? Like- do what? Can Harry do better? Or is this basically a case of a freak in power demanding his subordinates do better when even he can't do it, and he's demanding the impossible?_**  
 _Firstly Harry wasn't mad he didn't save the prison he was mad that he 'lost sight of it' which he thought shouldn't have been that hard so the answer is a bit of both, Harry is being a bit unfair but keeping sight of the prison is a more reasonable request then saving it_

* * *

Lawson pulled himself to his feet with the support of the surrounding rubble, pain shooting through his stomach wound. The fall hadn't helped his failing health, he really needed healing. Sighing, he began ambling weakly off in the direction of the screaming, he thought he should at least find out what it was he should be potentially running from. He had some ideas.

He made his way through the rubble, not feeling up to climbing anymore so was forced to around and look up to try see what he was missing. There was a large industrial cooling tower embedded nearby or at least a large enough chunk of it to serve as a kind of ramp for him to climb, he walked up it and finally got a look at the scene. He'd found the New Azkaban prisoners.

There were a couple hundred of them which was in line with how many prisoners there had been, their mangled bodies moved like puppets and all in the same striped rags Lawson wore. They were thankfully moving away from him but the people they were headed towards were probably not so thankful, it looked like the Ministry had been trying to set up some kind of checkpoint if the trampled tent and assortment of people gathered was anything to go by.

There were even some wizards, he could make out the Magical Patrol uniforms even from this distance but they were no Aurors, they didn't seem to know how to deal with Inferi. A couple of them were trying vainly to keep the herd back with fire but he'd seen muggle flamethrowers with more flames, bravely putting themselves in between the dead and the ragged muggles who fled screaming. Or tried to flee, the Inferi were grabbing at them as they ran, ripping off flailing arms and tearing through whatever part of them they could get a hold of. More Magical Patrol - who maybe didn't know the fire - were trying to help the ones being hurt, seemingly with little success.

"How did they not notice them?" Whit wondered in morbid shock, "Surely they would see them before they got this close?"

"Probably the same reason we didn't," Lawson admitted thoughtfully, the remains of his stomach churning uncomfortably, "I think they might've been cloaked, the Shadow Master probably put some kind of Disillusionment or straight up Invisibility on them so they wouldn't be noticed until it was too late. Latimer was right, seems like she had something planned."

"Maybe that's why she attacked him," Whit added as Lawson shuddered from the cold, "Didn't want him figuring it out before she could enact it."

"Maybe," Lawson muttered, getting the feeling he was missing something, "What I don't get is why, I mean attacking him proves she can just use the dead underground so why specifically the prisoners?"

"Who knows? I mean, doesn't she have some kind of grudge against prisons? That's why we were in _New_ Azkaban not _actual_ Azkaban in the first place, it's probably just that."

"Maybe… I-"

Lawson was distracted by what sounded like firecrackers but in actuality was help apparating in, presumably someone else had already gone to get help. He felt a short stab of panic as he recognized Auror robes, some Hit Wizards too but Aurors were the ones to fear. They blasted back at the Inferi with a frightful inferno that made the Magical Patrol's attempts look like candlelight in comparison, the Magical Patrol he also realized had been overcome while he'd been thinking.

"You know what this means, right?" Whit taunted smugly, making him jump as she breathed into his ear, "They're going to kill you now, fry you to crisp and claim you were just another Inferius. No one's going to know the difference."

"No!" Lawson whinged at her fearfully, backing up, "Not like this, not after I've come so far and I'm so… _close_."

"Close to the edge," Whit provided and Lawson had half a second to realize she was right before he was falling again.

 _Snap!_

He tumbled painfully down, sure the bruises of his bruises would now have bruises. He struggled back to his feet when he stopped, putting a hand to his still throbbing head and finding a fresh cut. It didn't hurt enough for his skull to have cracked though, the headache he'd had since the torture was far worse. His stomach was a pit of agony but despite the rest of his body aching, nothing felt like broken so… what was that sound? It wasn't apparation and it had definitely come from him.

"The wand," Whit state and Lawson raised his other hand, seeing the Auror's acquired wand had indeed snapped clean in half.

"Great," Lawson sighed unhappily and tossed the useless stick into the ruin, not that it'd be much use anyway he supposed anyway. He wrapped his arms around his injured stomach protectively and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other again, trying not to fall again and to move in a direction that didn't sound like Aurors fighting Inferi, "Come on, we got to keep moving."

"There is no 'we,'" Whit pointed out as he kept on walking, "I'm just a hallucination."

"Can't you just humor me? I'm not going to last for much longer anyway."

"No."

* * *

Michael apparated apprehensively back to where he and Latimer had been attacked, he'd stabilized his friend and left him with Tabitha who had conveniently arrived while Ron had been helping him by transfiguring another bed for Latimer. He'd restocked his supplies and returned against his better judgement to keep his promise, he hoped Lawson would be alright with taking him back to the tent before so they'd be safer before he looked at him. He wanted to warn Harry about the Inferius attack as well to be on his guard, Ron had said he'd pass the message on but Michael wasn't sure how fast their communication method went.

"Lawson!" Michael called out as he materialized and held out his arms, feeling mildly smug at having proven himself right, "I'm back! I told you so!"

Silence.

Michael scowled and started looking around, seeing nothing but miles of rubble and _not_ Lawson. Surely he hadn't decided not to wait? Why would anyone do that when he'd just promised he'd come back?! He was sure the guy had a head injury. Had something happened to him? It was impossible to tell if there'd been a scuffle in a place already destroyed but he didn't see a body, except the charred lump of Inferius. Had he just apparated? Michael assumed if he could he would have already done so.

He walked around in circles for a few minutes, he didn't see him even though he was quite sure he couldn't have gotten far. Heaving a heavy sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose. It was _far_ too early in the morning to be dealing with this. Aside from not particularly wanting to stay in an area possibly with more Inferi – he'd be dead without Latimer, he'd taken one look at that thing and been too buried back in his nightmares to do anything – to look for a random stranger who was kind of shady despite being helpful once, he had absolutely _no_ idea where to even start looking. Ruin stretched out in every direction, Lawson could have gone absolutely anywhere.

"Goddammit," Michael muttered irritably, scouring the area one last time to look for sign of him. Seeing nothing again, he kicked at a random stone in frustration and immediately regretted it as it was apparently more embedded in the ground then he thought and it hurt, "Fuck you, rock."

Seeing no other choice but surrender, he apparated back to the entrance point. Maybe someone from the Ministry would know how to find him, after all he _was_ an inmate of theirs that they'd want to recapture. In fact, Michael wondered if maybe it had been a dumb idea to leave a random criminal alone and unattended. He could have unleashed a serial killer or pedophile or something, suddenly he regretted not asking Lawson what he was supposed to be in prison for but he'd been kind of focused on saving Latimer at the time. He spotted Harry and started to walk towards him, feeling less tempted to mention Lawson with each step. What if he got in trouble for having left him unattended? If he did, could it jeopardize the alliance?

"Hey Harry," Michael greeted him more timidly than usual, noticing he looked frantic the he had earlier, "Did you get-"

"I got the message, yes," Harry cut him off, scowling deeply, "I knew already about the Inferi though."

"You did?" Michael wondered in surprise.

"Yeah, one of the checkpoints the Ministry were setting up was attacked by a hoard of them," Harry explained grimly, putting a hand on his shoulder and disapparating them. The second they reappeared, Michael's nose was assaulted by the smell of smoke and death, "We know what became of the prisoners."

Michael blinked and in the next instant felt his heart seize up inside his chest again, there were _hundreds_ of Inferi before them being contained behind a wall of fire held up by rows of mostly Aurors. They were all garbed in the same striped outfit Lawson had had and looked unusually mangled compared to the ones from Hogwarts, he didn't even have to remember as images from that were already bleeding through to reality. He really couldn't breathe.

"Michael? Are you okay? You've gone very pale," Harry asked him, his voice suddenly sounding a thousand miles away, "There were a lot more casualties then I would've liked but we have it under control now."

"I… need… air…" Michael managed to get out, looking around for somewhere to go and apparating as he did so to the first pile of rubble distinct enough to go to.

He stumbled and immediately fell to his knees, heaving the alcohol he'd had last night onto shards of a broken window. His whole body was shaking violently as he squeezed his eyes shut from the memories of Inferi tearing through his friends, Rose's screams echoed from far away so he put his hands over his ears, he could still feel their blood running between his fingers.

 _Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway_ , his mind urged the memories as he tried to force himself to breathe, managing only short burst. His heart pounded inside his chest and he felt like his head had caught fire, despite the cold beads of sweat he could feel rolling down. He focused on trying to breathe, trying to push aside the memories and just focus on breathing in and out, attempting to take deep calm breaths and ignore the past trying to escape his mind.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably some indeterminate amount of minutes, the memories retreated back to the past and the episode passed. He knelt there for a moment, continuing to let himself breathe while the wave of misery crashed against him. Why did this keep happening to him? Why was he so _weak_? What he wouldn't give for a drink.

Michael forced himself to his feet, the taste of vomit still rolling around the inside of his mouth. He took a good look around the area he'd escaped to, virtually indistinguishable from every other section of this ruin. At least he couldn't see the Inferi from here- He couldn't even finish the thought, noticing one ambling along away from him. His heart started to pick up speed before it occurred to him the figure looked frail and was moving in a very human way, hunched over clutching its stomach and stumbling along with an odd but distinctly alive and pained gait.

"Lawson?!" Michael called out, almost in disbelief, to the prisoner with a newly familiar mop of dull dark hair, "Lawson! Hey Lawson!"

He started to move towards the figure, waving his arms and slowly it turned. There was no mistaking the fact it was Lawson, he had one slate gray eye but the other was very distinctly fucked. It was bloodshot with the pupil and iris having merged into one pale blue orb, like a disk floating on a sea of lava and the burn scars scattered around it all was like the eye had been splashed with some kind of acid at some point. His face was gaunt – Michael wasn't sure if this was just because of how frightfully thin he was - and very pale, looking worryingly more ashen now then but still framed by wavy black hair.

"Chimael?" Lawson wondered in that… odd way he spoke, perfectly perplexed as Michael approached him more confidently.

"I _told_ you I'd come back," Michael reiterated in exasperation.

* * *

Lawson trudged on weakly, clutching at his wound and just trying to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other. He could feel his strength fading and the pain gaining with every single step, the spell he'd cast to buy him time had also inadvertently numbed it a little so he knew it was failing and with that he would resume bleeding to death internally. He shivered, feeling the cold crawling around inside of him, dying was colder than people mentioned.

"Ready to give up and die yet?" Whit's voice asked cheerfully into his left ear.

"No," Lawson insisted, barely managing to stay upright as he stumbled.

"And you know what's waiting for you, right?" his stepfather's voice hissed in his ear and Lawson recoiled fearfully, also hearing the scrape of the spiked bat dragging along the stone.

"Not yet," Lawson pleaded, shaking his head vigorously.

"What are you waiting for?" he sneered and Lawson felt him shove his shoulder, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees, "Give up, you piece of shit."

"Leave me alone," Lawson whimpered, forcing himself unsteadily back to his feet and continuing to plod along.

"You _are_ alone," Whit pointed out.

"Always were, always will be," his stepfather added.

"Surely you can't still expect to find help? You're not even looking up anymore, you wouldn't see anyone."

"That's because you're _weak_ ," his stepfather spat in his ear and Lawson jolted in fear, tripping and falling again.

"It's no surprise that no one ever loved you," Whit agreed as Lawson pushed himself back to his feet, "Just give up and die already."

Lawson opened his mouth to make a retort but closed it again, he was running out of energy to argue with his own hallucinations. He just kept on walking, he was going to walk until he dropped or ran into people. He was pretty sure he was going to die by now though, he could pretty much hear Death calling his name already… Wait, was someone literally calling his name right now? He turned in confusion.

"Chimael?" Lawson wondered, unsure if he was real or not as the tall Healer approached.

"I _told_ you I'd come back," Michael reiterated his lie.

"You didn't," Lawson snorted disbelievingly, "This isn'th back, it's some sother place."

"Well when I went back to the other place you weren't there!"

"Of course I wasrn't, I knew you wouldn't come back!"

"But I did come back!" Michael shrieked, sounding very exasperated, "You would know that if you'd actually waited!"

"Why wait whent I know you're not coming back?!" Lawson wondered equally incredulously.

"Because I did come back!"

"But you didn't! You're not here, you're there!"

"Only because you didn't wait for me there!"

"You didn't come back so swhy would I wait?!"

"Because I did come- ARGH! What the fuck is wrong with you?! You have the most backwards fucking logic of anyone I ever-" Michael yelled angrily, throwing up his arms until Lawson felt his legs buckling, his strength sapped from arguing. The Healer grabbed him before he could fully hit the ground, darkness was choking at his vision again, "Whoa! Okay, do you want my help or not?"

"Kay-yo," Lawson muttered weakly as Michael helped him to lie down on his back, whipping out his wand and starting to run some diagnostic spells.

"You have a lot of old injuries," Michael pointed out the obvious, his tone still bitter from the argument he'd lost, "What happened? Daddy play too rough?"

"Stepdaddy," Lawson corrected and for some reason Michael jolted, looking oddly shaken before going back to what he was doing. He opened his mouth to query the odd reaction but he'd already moved on, his expression switching to one of shock.

"How- How are you even walking around right now?"

"I'n mot," Lawson answered truthfully, he was lying on the ground but Michael threw him a scowl anyway.

"You know what I mean," Michael growled, pushing up his shirt to get to bandages, "This is serious, it must be painful. You could _die_."

"I'm don't known," Lawson muttered and tried to shrug, shivering as Michael took off the bandages and exposed his stomach to the early icy breeze, "If I was an animinagius, I know dI'd be a cockroach."

"I could believe that," Michael agreed in a grunt, waving his wand over it and frowning, "Why- Why is everything twisted?"

"Cuz they'd twisted the bweam, duh," Lawson explained what he thought should be an obvious answer and Michael sighed, moving his wand back and it occurred to him why before the Healer continued.

"I'm going to need untwist everything before I can heal anything," Michael explained, rummaging around in his medical kit and taking out a Pain Relief Potion, "You're going to need to take this."

"No!" Lawson barked, lifting his head up just to shake it.

"It's going to hurt a lot-"

"I daid no!"

"Are you allergic?"

"No."

"Then why-"

"Stot wasting time, just _do_ it," Lawson told him irritably, drawing his legs up so they were bent and flexing his hands to try brace himself. Michael sighed but put the vial back down regardless, much to his relief.

"This is probably going to hurt a lot, are you sure?"

"Yes. Who sasks for persimmision febrore hurting you?"

"Okay," Michael breathed and flicked his wand, Lawson screamed as he felt his insides twist so painfully he swore he saw stars for a second and his breathing became ragged. He closed his eyes and looked away, flexing his hands again, "Sorry, you're the one who didn't pain relief though. Try to take deep breaths, Lawson."

" _You_ tape deek breaths," Lawson mumbled and screamed again as another wave of agony tore through him, he struggled to breathe through it, "Oh fuck..."

"You're doing great," Michael told him reassuringly but another wave of pain didn't come, Lawson tried to flick his eyes back open and saw Michael still pouring over the wound with a look of concentration, "So what were you in prison for anyway?"

"Probuction and distridution of illegal substantces," Lawson reeled off the official sentence readily, letting his eyes close as he tried to focus on breathing better, "And negligent homicide for the death of daughther."

"And… that means?"

"I was a drug dealer and my daughter died."

"Wizards have drugs?" Michael wondered, sounding surprised and Lawson scowled as his eyes snapped open.

"Yeah," Lawson confirmed in confusion while Michael was rifling through his medical kit, "How have you heen a Healer and _not_ come crossed with any magic drugs?"

"Well _technically_ I'm just a Healer in training, I'm only seventeen."

" _What?!_ " Lawson shrieked so forcefully in shock it aggravated his stomach, he put his hands over his face in despair that after all that he was going to die at the hands of an amateur.

"Come on, you need to drink this," Michael insisted and Lawson lowered his hands, almost attempted to irrationally refuse but he saw it was Regenerative Potion which he needed so took it, "I've fixed enough that it should start to help."

"Why is a kid here anyway doing a Healer hobs?" Lawson questioned as he took the potion, shuddering from the tremors of pain while Michael had already gone back to pouring over the wound.

"Because I'm Gray."

"You're rot Gray," Lawson gave a derisive snort as the world started to whirl unhelpfully around him, he closed his eyes to make it stop, "They would… They'd never would waste time staving _me_ , theirs busy with the heroes stuff."

"You'd be surprised," Michael muttered and Lawson tried to open his eyes but everything was spinning, he still needed to stay awake but the potion was making him feel _very_ dizzy unless he kept them closed. It was a fairly common side effect if he recalled correctly, there wasn't anything to do about it, "So how'd you get out of the prison anyway?"

"Stong lory."

"Because the other prisoners… they…"

"Inferi."

"What? How'd you know that?!" Michael demanded, starting in shock.

"Sawt," Lawson admitted and heard Michael give an exasperated sigh, how else would he have expected him to know it that except for seeing it? Though speaking of the prisoners did make him think of something, "Whag are you going to do with me anway?"

"I'm stabilizing you so I can apparate you to safety, I could really use another Healer to help and you can't work on yourself."

"Anthen?"

"I don't know, you'll be turned back over to the Aurors I guess."

"No!" Lawson protested in panic, snapping his eyes back open despite the whirl of dizziness of caused, "Youc- You can't!"

"C'mon, I can't just-"

"No! You don't dunderstand, they're going to kill me!" Lawson insisted and Michael sighed heavily, his expression riddled with doubt, "How'd you think that I got hurth? It was the Aurors, they want me to die."

"You really expect me to believe that?" Michael scoffed and Lawson nodded his head vigorously, regretting it as it made his head spin so badly he feared throwing up for a second, "Why would the Aurors want to kill you?"

"So I woultn't tell anyone that they were abadoning the prison! Even though I _thold_ them I wouldn't…" Lawson tried to explain, having to close against the dizziness and recalled everything very vividly, "I was tortured so I wasn't there, theg guard gave me the wand-"

"Wait, back up. Who tortured you? The Aurors?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," Michael said with an obvious air of disbelief and Lawson opened his eyes again to see just that, "So you really expect me to believe that the Aurors were torturing you then they said they were going to abandon the prison so they stabbed you? That doesn't make any sense."

"No, I was toratured and _then_ the guard that was a muggles took me to get his families and then we came back and they becided to abadon the prison so they tried to kill me," Lawson told him but Michael continued to look incredibly skeptical, he'd even stopped healing him to meet his eyes, "Plead, they're going to kill me. They can jusc say I was an Inferi and burned me and no one is know, they'll kill me even nore mow that I'm the only lone."

"Your explanation makes no sense, why would the Aurors even do all that?"

"Cuz they think people that have the nightnares are Shadows," Lawson informed him and saw Michael pinch the bridge of his nose, he resisted the urge to close his eyes against the churning in the skies, "Why'd would I lie?"

"Why _wouldn't_ you lie?" Michael countered, going back to healing him and Lawson supposed he had a point… "What do you even expect me to do? I-"

"Waic! I can prove it!" Lawson realized, grabbing Michael's arm to draw his attention back, "Ask them- Ask them the Aurors-"

"They're not going to agree with what you say even if you _are_ telling the truth."

"No, you ask them to _heal_. I can heal but they can'th, they don't know that how to heal. I treathed this Auror with the cracked kull, they didn't know to fix it but I did so I stalabized him and healed the crack but they don't know how," Lawson tried to explain, his stomach was now churning like the sky and he saw Michael's expression grow stony, "I also healed the brokened arm of the muggle's wife, check and you'll see but they don't know how, they don't even know that she was broken arm. Or the cuth on the baby, none of them know thath the baby had a cub or how found that baby. You can know that, stagic mill knows. It knows thak… It…"

"Lawson?"

He couldn't respond to Michael's query but was busy as he Lawson tried to turn onto his side, the nausea winning and he felt his stomach twist in an agonizing way as he wretched up some blood and potion. He heard Michael curse and felt himself pushed to lie on his back again, he couldn't see it though as his eyes had already closed at some point. He tried to take deep breaths but it was hard to notice anything but the pain twisted up inside him, his head also continued to hurt and the cold was in his bones now.

He thought Michael was calling his name but it was so far away, he knew he was crashing and he could feel himself falling, falling into a void of darkness. He tried to grab onto to something, to anything to stop himself from falling into the nothingness but he'd forgotten what he'd even been using to stay conscious this whole time. He didn't even know why he'd fought it, the pain and the cold were getting further and further away the more he fell into the dark…

Lawson didn't remember hitting the ground but he was quite sure he was lying there, he opened his eyes and clouds covering every inch of the sky. He was surprisingly comfortable considering he was sure he hadn't been before, he was warm – he didn't even remember the last time he'd felt so warm - and whatever he was lying on was soft. He sat up curiously and found himself in the middle of a field, instead of the ruin he'd become familiar with he saw only grass. Strange grass at that, it was bizarre white grass. Suddenly he had a bad feeling.

He got his feet nervously, noticing he was wearing a white robe and seeing his hands were no longer scarred, if he still had that gaping hole in his stomach then it wasn't hurting anymore. For some inexplicable reason, his head still was though but nothing else hurt. He looked around, seeing the white blades of grass stretching out as far as he could see in every direction and swaying gently against a breeze he couldn't feel. This couldn't be real, nowhere was like this. Was he dreaming? He pinched himself quickly but… nothing happened, not a dream. But if not a dream then… death? Was he dead? Had he really died?

"No, this isn't right. I belong in the bad place," Lawson insisted, feeling increasingly distraught at how calm it was here and then he noticed something else that immediately captured the entirety of his attention, "Whit? Sly?"

He ran towards them without hesitation, seeing them standing perfectly still against the backdrop of swirling clouds. He stopped just a few feet in front of them, both were dressed in white just like him. Lawson raised his hand to reach out to them but felt his fingers touch a barrier and a translucent white film sprang up where he'd touched, it stretched as far as he could see left and right as well as up into the sky. He couldn't get to them.

"Is this real?" Lawson asked, feeling his heart catch in his throat. He lowered his hand, seeing Whit tuck her hair back behind her ears, "Is… Is that really you? Not a hallucination? Not a dream?"

Neither said anything, nor did they move from where they stood but very slowly they smiled. He saw a sad, solemn smile stretch across both of their faces. He gazed at them a moment, feeling his heart ache and tears pricking at the backs of his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth, not sure where to begin but the pair had both started to turn.

"Wait!" Lawson called after them, panicking as they started to walk away, "Don't go! Please, don't go! I don't want you to go! Not yet!"

He reached out to the barrier again, fighting back tears as he rested his hand on it. Beyond the film, he saw them both stop in place. Slowly Whit turned back to him, Sly did more of a half turn. He was further away than she was, calmly they shook their heads.

"C- Can't you at least let me tell you how sorry I am first?" Lawson pleaded as he tried to force the words through the lump in his throat, he could feel the tears roll down his cheeks as he hung his head, "I didn't want you to die, Whit, I never meant for you to die. I wasn't there and I should've been, if I had then I could have saved you and you'd still be alive. I should have never left you alone with her, I'm sorry. Whit, I'm so sorry."

Lawson fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands as his words crumbled into crying. He rocked back and forth, sobbing brokenly. He tried to stop to see them one more time, they'd walked away and were just distant dots on the horizon, black silhouettes walking hand in hand towards the brightest white sunlight. He had to hold his arms up to shield his eyes it was so bright, it was burning, literally he could see the burns creeping across his skin.

"You _knew_ you were never going to the good place," his stepfather's voice sneered from below him…?

Lawson looked down, just in time to see scabbed decaying hands breaking through the frosty grass to grab him. He screamed, trying to pull himself free tom the vicelike grip on his wrist but to no avail and in the next second he was being dragged underground, into the dark, with the ground weighing down upon and trying to smother him.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Lawson screamed hysterically, terror shooting through every fiber of his being, "NO! NO! NO!"

"Lawson, wake up! You're having a nightmare!" a voice called and Lawson jolted upright in an instant, hyperventilating and trying to yank his arm free of his stepdad but found it was actually just a handcuff anchoring him to a bed? Pain lanced through his stomach again and he tried to look around, still breathing heavily as he managed to gauge he was in some kind of room with other beds of people before Michael pushed him back down onto the bed, "Holy shit, stop moving or you're going to tear open your stomach again!"

"Wha- I don- Wher- I-" Lawson stammered out frantically, had that been just a dream? He wasn't dead? He wiped at his eyes with his free hand, trying to sit up again but Michael forced him back down. His head was hurting too, so much for pinching waking you up from dreams, "I don't under-"

"Relax, okay? You're safe as long as you stay down and stop freaking out," Michael reassured him and Lawson started to relax a little, he guessed he must've just passed out? "You're with Gray now."

"I'm- Wai- _What?!_ "

* * *

Harry wasn't sure where Michael had gotten to, the kid had blanched then immediately taken off and he hadn't seen him since. In hindsight he thought maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to show him the Inferi but he wouldn't have expected him to be there if he had an issue, he also sometimes found it hard to remember that Michael was in the same year as his own son. Granted, he also hadn't had that much time to look with everything going on.

They'd dealt with the situation and neutralized the Inferi threat, initial counts put the Inferi total roughly in line with the number of prisoners if you took out the Shadow spies. He'd be lying if he said he was sorry the prisoners had been killed and turned into puppets instead of normal innocent people but despite it being economically better for them to have no prisoners, he still wasn't happy about it and remained pissed at Arnett for losing sight of the prison. They'd deserved better than that, he was supposed to keep them locked up but he was also responsible for protecting them while they were in their custody so in that sense he'd failed them. It wasn't a good feeling, in a way it being better for them made it worse.

They had lost a few handling the Inferi threat but the vast majority of deaths had come from the initial attack, according to reports they'd been invisible or cloaked or something before they were already on the checkpoint and by then it was too late. The whole situation could've been a lot worse and overall he was proud of his people for the fast and efficient response, he had to think of the positive. The other checkpoints had been set up fine but he'd still called in more Aurors than usual, having them put anti-reanimation charms on the dead as a precaution and having a few guard them. He thought they were out of the woods though, the Shadow Master was known to hate prisons so using the prisoners in particular as the Inferi was almost certainly a calculated move.

Harry froze, out of nowhere his ears were greeted by a cacophony of screaming. He looked back at the Aurors standing guard at the tent and saw they were on the ground, for a second wondering why until he noticed the bloody hands sticking _out_ of their bodies as Inferi started to pull themselves out of the ground. Not just the Aurors either, the tent already had Inferi tearing through it from the inside and people trying to flee were being grabbed by more hands popping out from the rubble to grab pull them down for a second hand to punch through their throat or chest.

His mouth was hanging open before he realized it, his knowledge of Dark Magic telling him this was not possible, you _couldn't_ reanimate the dead while they were underground. Another bitterly miserable part of his mind pointed out that this was the Shadow Master, she didn't play by the rules.

He turned on the spot, apparating to the most Auror-heavy checkpoint to get help and was horrified to see the same situation occurring. He went to the next one, and the next, and the next, each and every single one befallen by the same shocking attack though oddly nothing had tried to attack him yet.

" _Harry… Potter..._ " a disjointed voice called at the last one, a breathy rasping voice that sent a chill straight to his heart as he turned to it.

It was one of the broken emaciated bodies of the Inferius, its arms already soaking in the blood of innocents. It raised its bloody arm to the sky and Harry realized it was pointing, pointing to the twisting skeletal snake symbol with its forked tongue sticking out menacingly. The Shadow Mark. It stood black against the sun behind it, forcing the light to an impasse. And below it, Harry saw words:

 _YOU GO AFTER MY PEOPLE, HARRY POTTER, I GO AFTER YOURS_

 _THERE WILL BE NO PRISONS IN MY WORLD_

 _REMEMBER THIS WELL_


	27. IIX: Blind Trust

_**Thanks to:** Judal Hiwatari, laceyowens50 and Colin Creevey for reviewing!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 _ **What's the percentage of dead Aurors now after all this?** _  
_About half, leaning more to 55%_

 ** _People are going to notice that Scorpius has done something drastic at some stage right? Perhaps not what he's done exactly but they're definitely going to think him odd at some point?_**  
 _Too spoilery to say_

* * *

"What the hell, Michael?!" Scorpius demanded of his friend in annoyance, he hadn't even _believed_ Hogan when he'd rudely awoken him to complain about Michael bringing a criminal to Gray but after being practically dragged out of bed to the Embry's he was proven wrong. On top of that Latimer was also seriously injured and there'd been some kind of major Shadow incident, "Why would you bring a random criminal to Gray?!"

"He was injured!" Michael insisted defensively, "I promised to help him if he helped me save Latimer and he did! What was I supposed to do, leave him to die?!"

"You don't have to, there's Healers who exist outside of Gray!"

"Yes but they'd just turn him over to Aurors who would kill him-"

" _What?!_ " Scorpius interrupted incredulously, "I don't have a lot of love for the Aurors either but come on, that's ludicrous."

"You see?!" Hogan questioned triumphantly, "I told you. Are you drunk, Michael?"

"No!" Michael snapped still defensive but seemed to be trying to reign in his temper, "Look, Lawson told me-"

"Who's Lawson?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"The guy we're talking about! He-"

"Wait, the criminal's name is _Law_ son?"

"Yes, Scorpius, stop interrupting me!" Michael complained and Scorpius obediently bit his tongue, folding his arms crossly while Michael took a breath, "The Aurors are ones who injured him, they were trying to _kill_ him. I couldn't in good conscience just leave him there."

"And how do you know they injured him?" Hogan questioned, "Did you actually _see_ it happen?"

"No, but he told me-"

"Michael, people lie," Scorpius pointed out, immediately losing whatever interest he'd been gaining for Michael's side.

"Especially criminals," Hogan agreed.

"He'd probably say anything to avoid going back to prison."

"I know that! I'm not an idiot-" Michael started to say.

"I think you're an idiot," Hogan complained, earning a frustrated glare from Michael.

"Look some things don't add up, okay?!" Michael insisted determinedly, "Things that suggest he's _not_ lying- like the Aurors can't heal shit but _somehow_ one of them was stabilized for the Medi-Wizards, if Lawson – who _can_ heal – didn't do it then what's your explanation? Divine intervention?"

"Magical outburst."

"And then there's his injury, whatever stabbed him _twisted_ inside him to do even more damage. It's incredibly unnatural, it pretty much _had_ to have been caused by a witch or wizard intentionally and it's not like there was many around. Besides, if he was lying then he should be a dead Inferi like the other New Azkaban prisoners."

"I don't know, doesn't that sound kind of coincidental?" Scorpius admitted still dubious and Michael scowled, "I think its best if we turn him over, especially now the Ministry are our allies."

"Can't you just back me up on this and trust me here?! You let random people into Gray all the time!"

"Yeah, people who are trustworthy not random criminals I met once this morning!"

"I think he's trustworthy!" Michael insisted and they both raised an eyebrow at him, "To a certain extent anyway, I mean he's just a drug dealer. I think he could be useful, like he knows about potions and we can always use more Healers. His resourcefulness at treating his own severe injury is seriously impressive, I doubt I could've done that, if he can do that for himself I think he'll be even better with others. Did I mention he helped me _save Latimer's life_?"

"He's not an officially trained Healer," Hogan pointed out.

"Neither am I!"

"His skills don't matter if he's not trustworthy," Scorpius agreed with Hogan, just seeming to irritate Michael more, "What reason would the Aurors have to kill him anyway?"

"To keep him quiet," Michael answered, cooling down a little and sounding less confident, "They're doing some shady stuff."

"Like what?"

"I'm not _entirely_ sure of the details but they wanted to leave the prison unprotected, they were also torturing him before the attack which was why he wasn't with the others."

"Torture how exactly?" Hogan questioned and Michael shrugged.

"Like I said I don't know all the details, he passed out when he trying to tell me and his explanation was getting more garbled anyway."

"That's convenient."

"Not really, if you heard him speak you'd understand."

"He hasn't woken up yet?" Scorpius wondered and Michael shook his head, "Because if he hasn't he hasn't seen anything of Gray yet."

"All the more reason to turn him back over to the Ministry now," Hogan pointed out.

"Except for the part where they'll kill him!" Michael protested angrily and Scorpius sighed heavily, "Do you really want more deaths on your conscience?"

"Do you?" Scorpius countered, "If Lawson is bad it puts the rest of Gray at risk and-"

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" an unfamiliar voice suddenly started screaming at the top of their lungs, Scorpius spun around in surprise and saw it was the criminal who'd started flailing wildly in his sleep, "NO! NO! NO!"

"Lawson, wake up! You're having a nightmare!" Michael called out as he rushed over and Lawson jolted upright immediately, hyperventilating and trying to yank his arm free from the handcuff anchoring him to the bed. He looked around frantically in fear and Scorpius cringed inwardly at how screwed up his left eye was, all bloodshot with the pupil and iris blended into a singular milky blue orb. Michael pushed him back down onto the bed, "Holy shit, stop moving or you're going to tear open your stomach again!"

"Wha- I don- Wher- I-" Lawson stammered out before wiping at his eyes, trying to sit up again but Michael forced him back down, "I don't under-"

"Relax, okay? You're safe as long as you stay down and stop freaking out," Michael reassured him, seeming to soothe him for a second as his breathing calmed a little, "You're with Gray now."

"I'm- Wai- _What?!_ " Lawson started in shock, his good slate gray eye widening and Scorpius felt oddly reminded of someone, "Is this threal?"

"I _told_ you I was with Gray," Michael insisted, Lawson's mouth open and closed like a beached fish before seeming to give up as he just absorbed the shock. He lay back, rubbed at his head as if it was in pain and went silent, "Good, just lay there calmly and-"

"So you claim you were tortured by the Aurors, huh?" Hogan cut him off to question Lawson firmly, the criminal jolted at being addressed and tried to sit up again.

" _Easy_ ," Michael hissed, pushing him back down.

"Y- Yeah?" Lawson stammered out, his eyes darting rapidly between them like they were playing pinball, "Wh-"

"How?" Hogan demanded.

"Crucias- Crucicias- Crucish-"

"Move aside," Hogan barked briskly, Michael sighed but obeyed and Lawson tried – this time successfully - to sit up again as Hogan sat on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked irritably, crossing his arms and scowling. Probably annoyed Hogan had allowed Lawson to sit up, Lawson flinched as Hogan whipped out his wand.

"Checking his story," Hogan answered as he started flicking his wand over a puzzled looking Lawson, the old Healer frowned, "Have you _ever_ been treated by a real Healer before in your life?"

"No," Lawson said sadly as Hogan kept flicking his wand over him, his brow only furrowing more and the movements becoming more frantic around his head.

"Well?" Scorpius wondered but Hogan's attention was solely on Lawson.

"Do you have a headache right now?"

"Yeah," Lawson confirmed as Hogan lowered his wand, his expression severe, "It started when the torture, it still hurts."

"Do you remember your name?"

"L- Lawson?" Lawson told him, seeming taken aback by the question.

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Yelling."

"So you know who you are?"

"Of course," Lawson assured him, looking increasingly as confused as Scorpius felt by the questions.

"And you have all your memories?"

"Yes."

"Even going back to childhood?"

"Unforsunately," Lawson sighed, screwing up his words again for reasons Scorpius didn't understand but was sure he wasn't imagining.

"Are you able to think clearly?"

"Yes?"

"Your thoughts aren't racing constantly and things keep popping into your brain and getting stuck and keep repeating over and over again?"

"Um… no," Lawson answered, looking confused, "Definitively not."

"Hogan, where are you going with this?" Michael inquired curiously but was also ignored.

"Are you having trouble distinguishing what is real and what's not?" Hogan asked and this one got a reaction from Lawson, he jolted then averted his eyes ashamedly, "Hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations?"

"No…" Lawson muttered slowly, suddenly fidgeting with his hands that Scorpius noticed were scarred with burns like around his eye.

"By no do you mean yes?"

"Bayme…"

"Okay," Hogan said, seemingly satisfied and stood up to rejoin them.

"So _was_ he lying?" Scorpius questioned.

"No!" Lawson insisted irritably, apparently they were still in earshot.

"I'm not talking to you!"

"He's not, he was _definitely_ tortured," Hogan confirmed in a low growl, looking rather angry now as they inched a bit further away from Lawson, "Not only that but the bastards came close to driving him _insane_."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered, switching to surprise.

"Yes, the headache he's experiencing is the pain of his mind starting to break under the strain of the Cruciatus Curse and the brain becomes scrambled which has varying effects. We can't turn him over to them, if they torture him right now they _will_ drive him insane and even if we wait he'll never be able to endure the Cruciatus Curse for very long before reaching the danger zone. I don't know about potential murder but the torture is undeniable and as a Healer I can't in good conscience turn him over to people who are likely to irreversibly destroy someone's mind, even if that someone is a criminal. Its sick and its wrong and we can't have any part in it."

"Yeah, that's what I said," Michael muttered with a mild nod and a suppressed yawn. Scorpius sighed and rubbed his own eyes tiredly, not really wanting this to be his decision but having a feeling that Varanian would go along with whatever he suggested.

"Well what am I supposed to tell the Ministry?" Scorpius wondered as he lowered his hand, "We're trying to be their allies and the first thing we do is take their prisoner?"

"Talk to Hermione about it."

"Tell them to grow a conscience!" Hogan snapped more loudly and Scorpius threw up his hands in defeat.

"Well he better be the most useful damn Healer the world has ever seen," Scorpius complained, directing his scowl at Lawson who he was sure could probably still hear them even if he wasn't looking in their direction anymore, "You understand me, Lawson?"

Lawson nodded.

* * *

 _"I don't know how these places manage to simultaneously be completely different yet exactly the same," Oathan commented as they both apparated just outside the makeshift city._

 _"Yeah," Molly agreed, hoping it was the right one this time as she started striding towards it with Oathan in tow._

 _It looked more like a collection of cardboard boxes then an actual town, not that it was an actual town and was closer to a shanty town if any. It was all temporary, patchwork sheets of metal, planks of wood or even literal cardboard were crafted into hovels that passed for homes. There was no consistency to any size or design, nor was there any kind of pattern to how they fit together so the whole place felt like someone had tried to make a jigsaw by forcing together different pieces from twenty different puzzles of varying designs and sizes._

 _That was the cost of escaping the Shadows' world, you had no resources to work with and nothing could be permanent because you had to be ready to flee at any time from the Shadows as they continued to seek out any survivors not in their society. It turned everyone not under their rule into a race of nomads, some clustered together like this finding safety in numbers while others stuck to themselves – like they did - and then there was Gray, they were the ones actively fighting back not just trying to survive. They were also the ones Molly was looking for right now._

 _"I don't like these places much," Oathan admitted, drawing her attention back to the lanky twenty year old. He was tall and gangly, not quite having escaped his adolescent awkwardness yet but his skin had cleared up and he'd finally cut his hair._

 _"Neither do I, that's why we used to leave you behind," Molly agreed, starting to wish she'd been the one to stay behind because the smell was triggering her morning sickness but she knew it was better if she spoke to him, "Sometimes it's necessary though."_

 _Oathan sighed and went silent, she knew he didn't agree but ignored it to focus on where she was going. There were a lot of people there but she wouldn't call it bustling, for as many people she passed enthusiastically shoving goods in their faces there was twice as many leaning listlessly against buildings with defeated looks in their eyes. Everyone was grimy and varying degrees of thin, there were always more people then there was food and not even enough shelter. There were also no laws in nomad land, crime was rampant amongst desperate people in a place of despair._

 _"Is it really necessary?" Oathan queried unhappily, seemingly finally having worked up the nerve to express his complaints._

 _"Yes," Molly insisted as she followed the nauseating smell, "We need him to find Gray."_

 _"Yeah but do we really need to find Gray? It's not like we ever needed them before, we do just fine by ourselves."_

 _"We need to do more than fine, Oathan, the plan was always to rejoin them when you were older and now you're older. You have more potential than Flan or I can teach but Gray can, we need that," Molly told him seriously and subconsciously put a hand to her stomach, "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have more protection."_

 _"I just feel like we're better off without them," Oathan said quietly with his head hung low, "I don't like Gray and I don't want to have to see my brothers again, my real brothers I mean."_

 _"You might be pleasantly surprised and you might not have to see your brothers," Molly sighed sadly and noticed him raise his head out of the corner of his eye, "Maurice might be dead by now and I don't think Orous even survived the final battle."_

 _Oathan said nothing and she went back to focusing on her surroundings, meandering her way to the west side of the town where he apparently resided. A bad side of town she was realizing from the smell, the drug trade flourished amongst the nomads. After all it didn't really require the same things needed for the precious commodity that was food and it was far easier to drown your problems in potion then it was to actually fix them, at least they could delude themselves into thinking they didn't exist for a little while. Molly could understand why they did it but still hated every last thing about it, it wasn't life._

 _"M- Mom, th- these women are barely wearing any clothes!" Oathan hissed at her in shock, his jaw had completely dropped._

 _Looking back to the people around, Molly noticed he was right. There was an increasing number of men and women – though Oathan seemed to only have eyes for latter – waltzing around in little more than underwear, if that, with smiles and glazed over eyes, seemingly oblivious to the fact their horribly emaciated bodies were going blue from the cold autumn air. Some of them looked disturbingly young, some of them were lying on the ground so still they might not even be alive and some of them were just screwing shamelessly in alleyways._

 _"Some of the drugs they might take don't let them feel the cold," Molly explained, tugging his sleeve as he had stopped to ogle a particularly large breasted woman who didn't seem to notice one had slipped out of her shirt. Starting to wonder if she should've left him behind, he was an adult though and they had wanted him to experience the world._

 _"Y- Yeah but why?" Oathan stammered out, still looking shocked and it occurred to her that he hadn't had much experience with nudity, "I don't… I don't understand why they would… why anyone would live like this."_

 _"Well it's probably a good thing you don't understand," Molly decided before she spotted the person they were looking for.  
_

* * *

Cyrus Akram lay curled up on his bed, sobbing silently as his body continued to shake from the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse. Not that it mattered when that would actually stop because everything hurt, the vast majority of his body stung from the shapes the Blood Quills carved into his flesh. Not that it even felt like his flesh anymore, it was all raised grooves and raw wounds.

"Cyrus?" his friend's familiar voice called, accompanied by a knock at the door. Davin was very soft-spoken, he always sounded strange speaking through a door, "It's time for dinner."

"I don't care," Cyrus called back, his voice cracked from crying. There was a slight pause.

"Can I come in?"

"If you want," Cyrus said disinterestedly as he heard the door, not bothering to move as he didn't feel like talking. Or eating.

"I take it last class didn't go well?" Davin inquired and Cyrus heard the door close behind him, Cyrus thought the answer was too obvious to bother confirming it, "Have you ever thought of taking Mo up on his offer to help you?"

"I don't want his help!" Cyrus insisted stubbornly, accepting his help felt like giving in to he Shadows, "Besides, we were practicing the Cruciatus Curse today so I don't think his help applies to that."

"You still can't do it?"

"I don't think I'll ever be able to do it, and it's got nothing to do with being blind. I'm not like them, I just _can't_ ," Cyrus told him and wiped at his eyes, "Sly would probably be good at it though."

"I don't know, I think we should try be nice to him for a while," Davin pointed out, sounding unusually sympathetic even for him.

"Why?"

"Because Stephan was just telling us about the attack on the New Azkaban prison, they rescued all the spies and killed everyone else. The Shadow Master turned the rest of the prisoners into Inferi and used them as part of a ploy to hurt the Ministry, especially the Aurors."

"So?" Cyrus wondered, his brain not feeling much like thinking until recognition tugged at him and he sat up, "Wait, didn't Sly say his parents were in prison?"

"Exactly."

"So he's an orphan now? The Shadows didn't save his parents even though Sly's one of them?"

"Yeah, Stephan said no one except the spies were worth saving, it's not like we need numbers anymore with almost seventy countries under our belt," Davin told him, Cyrus really didn't like how he said 'we' instead of 'them' sometimes, "Even Sly doesn't deserve to be orphaned."

"What else did your brother say?"

"The usual mostly, just wanting me to do better- well, all of us but I'm the one closet to the Test," Davin explained, though with any luck Cyrus really hoped his mother would manage to save them before they got near that thing, "He mentioned you too."

"Oh?"

"He said James should be well enough to carry out the attack by the end of the month so brush up on your Arabic, just a few more weeks until you have to translate again."

"Great," Cyrus muttered miserably and buried his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut as tears welled within again.

"Look on the bright side, at least you'll get out of here for a bit," Davin offered encouragingly, putting a comforting arm around him, "Isn't that what you want?"

"Not when it involves helping to conquer innocent people… What's my mom going to say when she sees me?"

"She'll know it's not your fault, she'll just be proud you managed to hold on."

"That's the thing, Davin, I don't know if I can," Cyrus admitted, feeling his throat choking up again and Davin's tone switched to one of concern.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how much longer I can take this," Cyrus whispered, wiping at his eyes again and making an effort to look at his friend even as he felt more bubbling, "I feel like I'm losing it, every day just hurts more and more and _more_. I don't know much longer I can take it, I'm not strong like you guys. I just my mom, I just want to go home. I don't know how you all do it, Davin, I really don't."

"You've lasted this far, Cy, you're just stronger than you think."

"But-" Cyrus tried to protest but was silenced as Davin gave him a hug.

"Being strong is about _enduring_ the hurt not never feeling it, that'd just make you inhuman. You're just as strong as any of us."

"I just want the pain to stop," Cyrus said in a small voice, clinging to Davin childishly.

"It will stop, someday this will all just be a bad memory."

A part of Cyrus wanted to question how he could be so confident but the rest of him stopped that part, he felt so defeated right now he'd rather just believe then try to pick apart Davin's words. He wasn't sure what he'd do without him, it was another reason he was dreading having to go translate for James. He'd be completely alone without Davin.

"So can we go eat now?" Davin asked as he pulled away, "We can stay here if you want but it's best to keep our strength up and honestly, I'm kinda hungry."

"I suppose so," Cyrus begrudgingly agreed, wiping at his eyes again. He still wasn't feeling much of an appetite but he didn't want Davin to go without on his account, hopefully it'd be a quick meal.

"Great!" Davin said cheerfully and was soon leading them off to dinner through the throng of the other kids talking quietly amongst themselves, mostly about classes.

"Hey tearface, by which I mean _you_ , Akram," Sly's stupid smug self-righteous British accent cut across everything else, Cyrus immediately felt his back go up.

"Shut up, Sly," Cyrus shot out immediately, not in the mood to deal with him. Especially if he had to try being nice to someone he _despised_. Though from how normal – at least normal for Sly, he sounded too old for his age - he sounded, Cyrus didn't think Sly had actually heard about his parents yet.

"Hey Sly, I really think-" Davin started to say but Sly completely ignored and spoke over him.

"So what's up, crybaby?" Sly taunted and Cyrus heard him approach, did he still have tears on his face? Sly always seemed to know when he'd been crying no matter how much he tried to wipe away the tears, "Were you practicing your eulogy for your dead mother's funeral?"

"I said shut up!" Cyrus snapped again, his fists clenching and his body tensing. The thought of her dying was the most distressing thing he could imagine, he couldn't _not_ be upset when Sly started on this. _Except this time you actually have something to say back_ , his mind reminded him so darkly he felt a little colder inside and he lowered his voice, "Back off, Sly, I'm serious today."

"I-"

"Ooh you're serious today," Sly teased, steamrolling through Davin's attempt to speak up again, "But you're right, you're right. Of _course_ you're not practicing her funeral eulogy."

"That's right," Cyrus confirmed quickly, trying to shut Sly down from whatever awful thing he was going to say next.

"Yes, she's been dead for so long that you already _missed_ her funeral! What an _awful_ son you are."

"Sly-!"

"Okay, we're leaving!" Davin interjected finally, trying to drag Cyrus away and he felt his jaw clench along with his fist. He hated Sly so much, "We can just-"

"I'm sorry, my bad!" Sly called out in a falsely cheery tone from behind them, "Of course you didn't miss the funeral, a worthless bitch like her wouldn't have one."

"Cyrus, don't-"

"YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD, SLY!" Cyrus yelled out in anger before he could stop himself, yanking his arm free of Davin and spinning back around. He heard Sly laugh, his smooth smug laugh that made Cyrus want to punch him.

"That's your comeback, _really_?" Sly taunted and Cyrus felt Davin go very still beside him, "It's _so_ childish to just regurgitate the same-"

"You think I'm lying but I'm _not_ ," Cyrus sneered, stepping further forwards, "You go and on about my mom being dead but _you're_ the one who's an orphan- Davin heard it from Stephan himself!"

"Davin?" Sly queried, not sounding so confident now.

"I'm sorry, Sly," Davin said solemnly, speaking so softly it was barely audible.

"And you know what else, Sly?" Cyrus continued cruelly, not able – or maybe just unwilling – to stop once the ball was rolling because this was the only one he'd ever get, "The Shadow Master is the one who killed them! That's right, your parents are such garbage criminals that even your precious Shadows didn't think they were worth the second of time it'd have taken to save them! You think joining these maniacs made you special? It didn't! You're nobody to them and your parents are nothing, Sly, nothing but dead meat now! You say my mom is worthless but she isn't, _your_ parents are the worthless! And you say my mom is dead but she isn't dead, _your_ parents are dead! They're _dead_ , Sly!"

Silence.

"Maybe you should look at your own family before you start criticizing mine, huh?!" Cyrus shouted at him, it felt so good to have finally shut him up!

Still silence, around them there suddenly just seemed to be a vacuum of soundlessness. It was strange, he'd expected Sly to scream at him that he was a liar or to speak up with some snarky comeback but Sly didn't speak, Sly didn't say a word. Cyrus started to fear that maybe Sly had walked out while he'd been speaking and he right now he was now talking to no one.

"You're not going to say anything?!" Cyrus demanded, hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself.

"I um… have to…" Sly mumbled aimlessly in a voice suddenly sounding too small for him, not even managing a coherent sentence before his footsteps started to walk away.

"Yeah, you better walk away because Daddy isn't coming to pick you up!"

"Cyrus," Davin said sharply, warningly and he glanced in his friend's direction in surprise.

"Come on, he was asking for it," Cyrus insisted, feeling rather irate that Davin was siding with Sly here, "I didn't tell him anything that wasn't true."

"That doesn't make it okay to be as mean as he is, he's still just a little kid who just lost his parents," Davin admonished him, his words heavy with disappointment as he started to walk away, "You should have been better than that, I thought you _were_ better then that."

* * *

 _Despite having expected him not to be in good shape, Molly was nonetheless surprised by his appearance. He'd been a child the last time she'd seen him but he was certainly not a child now, he was tall like his father had been and covered in blood quill scars like his brother had been, except his looked a lot less legible. Like the other addicts he was extremely emaciated and wearing just a ragged open shirt and pair of dirty boxer shorts, his wand was tucked down the side of them. His blond hair was a mess matted with filth, the woman he was snogging didn't seem to mind though as she ran her fingers through it. His eyes were unchanged though, still that sightless milky white with a scar running down the left side._

 _"Hey Cyrus," Molly called out a greeting as he threw the woman down onto a pile of trash, she didn't seem to care however as she spread her legs readily but Cyrus' head had shot up in recognition._

 _"Didja just hear someone call my name?" Cyrus asked, his words slurred._

 _"I dunno, what's your name?" the woman wondered disinterestedly, reaching for his shorts._

 _"I called your name, Cyrus," Molly reiterated and he pulled away from the woman, his head cocking to one side curiously, "Do you even remember your cousin?"_

 _"Molly?" Cyrus said as he stepped away from the woman, stumbling a little but not seeming to notice as a lifeless smile spread across his face. He opened his arms in a welcoming way as he approached, up close she noticed track marks hiding amongst the scars on his arms, "And here I thought you had died."_

 _"What happened to you?" Molly couldn't help but ask, any joy she was trying to feel for seeing a familiar face after so many years being completely offset by his drastic change. To her surprise, or maybe not, he just laughed joylessly._

 _"What didn't happen? You're going to have to be a bit more specific, life is nothing but stuff that happens and I'm a little high right now," Cyrus answered cheerfully and covered his mouth as he started giggling, "Okay, a lot high. I don't even know where the world is anymore but I can taste the colors of these lights."_

 _"Are you sure this is the guy?" Oathan wondered, looking and sounding extremely dubious though Cyrus' head cocked to one side curiously at the new voice, "He doesn't look very useful."_

 _"It is true I don't look very useful, Oathan," Cyrus admitted while Oathan looked completely taken aback at being recognized, he tapped the side of his head and started giggling again, "But then again you know how the saying goes: looks don't matter because I'm blind."_

 _"I thought you were with Gray?" Molly questioned, trying to get the conversation back on track and surreptitiously flicked her wand to ensure they wouldn't be overheard._

 _"I was," Cyrus confirmed, still grinning widely and not seeming to notice his body shiver from the cold that just blew through, "Until they kicked me out."_

 _"Why'd they do that?"_

 _"Oh no reason," Cyrus answered with a smile, folding his arms, "They just thought I was trading supplies for drugs."_

 _"Were you?" Oathan asked curiously and Cyrus burst into hysterical laughter._

 _"What do you think, you fucking idiot?" Cyrus countered, laughing so hard he cried while Oathan crossed his arms grumpily, "God, you're dumb. Even the lights are laughing at you, they're singing songs about how stupid the supposed savior of the universe is."_

 _"Did they really never try to help you?" Molly asked instead, silencing Cyrus who tilted his head curiously again._

 _"Depends on your definition of help, I suppose. I mean Maurice gave me plenty of chances, more then he would've for anyone who wasn't his baby brother, and I was forced through withdrawal more times then I want to remember," Cyrus explained and started giggling again, "I'm sure they certainly thought it was helping me but I didn't find it particularly helpful, I wanted to get high."_

 _"They gave you a way to get back to them though, didn't they?" Molly guessed and he smirked in response, somehow doubting Maurice would cut his brother off forever. Roman wouldn't have wanted that._

 _"Only if I promise to be good and want to get better."_

 _"So you can take us back to them?" Oathan prompted grimly to which Cyrus giggled._

 _"No, why would I want to go back? Their idea of better is my idea of hell," Cyrus said, giggling and shivering again as he wrapped his arms around himself, "They're fighting a war they already lost but somehow I'm the crazy one? They're probably dead by now anyway. Everyone dies so easily, they all just die over and over again, everyone I cared about just dies over and over again."_

 _"Even Maurice?"_

 _"It's funny, isn't it?" Cyrus continued, staring off at nothing as he laughed harder, "I'm alive but they're not, even though I'm blind but they're not, even though I'm useless but they're not. Or are they? Maybe I'm the one who's dead and they're alive, or maybe no one is dead and this is just a joke everyone is playing on me."_

 _"Cyrus-" Molly started to speak up but was cut off._

 _"Good one, guys! You got me! You totally got me, I really believed everyone was dead! You can come out now!" Cyrus shouted suddenly before descending into more laughter, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he hugged his arms tighter around himself, "Who knows? I don't, I thought you were dead too. What do I know, I'm blind? I can't see, I can't see. Except these lights, sometimes when I'm high I can see these lights and they taste like the flavors of the night-"_

 _"Cyrus?" Molly tried again and he stopped laughing, cocking his head again and continuing to smile even though his eyes looked dead inside._

 _"Yes, dear cousin? Would you like a cup of tea?"_

 _"Um no."_

 _"Oh good, because I don't have any."_

 _"If you can't take us back to Gray, can you at least tell us how to get there?" Molly asked of him and Cyrus looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding._

 _"Yes," Cyrus smiled, "I can do that."_


	28. IIX: Shelter

It turned out Hermione wasn't even there, nor at the other base, but instead was off doing Ministry stuff. So Scorpius was basically left unable to really do anything while he waited on Hermione, Ron was the only one with a method to contact her but suggested waiting was better as he wasn't as urgent. He waited around pretty aimlessly, mostly spending time with his injured friends and second-guessing his decision, obviously he didn't want someone tortured by the Aurors but that didn't mean he wanted a prisoner in Gray. He also ended up having an awkward conversation with Sebastian while waiting.

"Is it really true all the other prisoners died?" the small werewolf asked him timidly later in the day, "Even my mum and sister?"

"As far as we know," Scorpius admitted and clapped him on the back, trying to be encouraging, "Don't worry, I'm sure they're dead so they can't hurt you anymore."

He'd expected Sebastian to be relieved by this since they'd been so awful to him but surprisingly, the boy had only nodded meekly, his eyes welling with tears as he shuffled away miserably. Scorpius had been on the verge of going after him before being distracted by Heather's arrival, or rather by Michael's yell as she had drawn her wand on him.

"Heather!" he heard Abby cry out in shock as he ran back into the infirmary room to see the elder Longbottom had Michael up against the wall with a fierce expression on her face.

"If he dies on your watch, I _will_ kill you," Heather told Michael darkly, her tone low and her wand unwavering, "Do you understand me, you worthless drunk?"

"Why don't you go outside and take five?" Scorpius offered, his hand hovering over his wand in readiness but he got the impression she was going to back off. Heather's cold eyes shifted to him but she lowered her wand regardless, Michael swallowed as she stalked out of the room.

"She didn't mean it," Abby insisted to Michael encouragingly though Scorpius wasn't so sure with her.

By the time Hermione did return, Scorpius felt almost bad for wanting to speak to her as she was looking rather run down and had an armful of scrolls. She didn't back out or complain though, just sat with him at the kitchen table and patiently listened as he explained the situation with Lawson.

"Well this is rather unfortunate," Hermione sighed when he was finished, rubbing at her temple, "We really could do without this right now."

"So what happens now then?" Scorpius wondered.

"We'll need to take a statement from the convict as well as one from Hogan to confirm he was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, an investigation will be launched into the guards of New Azkaban and any indicted by name would face immediate suspension pending the investigation," Hermione explained, reeling it off mechanically as if reciting from a textbook, "There will be some delay though, we're still taking stock of the casualties and some are still in critical condition. We need to see who is actually still alive before we can take action against them after all, it'd also be better to take a statement from the convict once his health has improved."

"And he can join us okay?"

"I can't see why they would object in light of the circumstances, however the conditions surrounding the convict might be a little different but I'll have to look into the details of his conviction first… Which I should probably do now while the sickness is at bay, I'll get back to you."

* * *

"So is sis really Gray?" Lawson asked curiously as Michael was handing him his potions from the tray, scowling as he did so because Lawson was sitting up again despite Michael telling him not to- despite Lawson even _agreeing_ it was better for his injury to not to, "I mean, a random muddle street steems an odd joice for a place to be."

"How do you know this is a random muggle street?" Michael wondered slowly, deciphering what he meant took a minute sometimes and he was confused why Lawson would know that as he'd never seen the Embrys' from outside.

"There's a windwow," Lawson pointed out, nodding to the window on the opposing wall in between drinking his potions, "And I can hear cars."

"Just drink your potions, Mr Observant," Michael complained of him, frowning further. He wasn't sure he wanted Lawson to know where they were, even though Hogan had ultimately sided with him he felt it would be on his shoulders if Lawson betrayed them, he constantly cycled between feeling extreme wariness and great pity.

"Our real base got destroyed recently," Albus explained kindly from the next bed over, he'd been making the most effort to be nice to Lawson for whatever reason.

"Don't remind me," Michael growled more forcefully then he'd meant to as Annie's death came back to mind, they both went quiet.

Lawson finished the vials and handed them back, in doing so Michael caught a glimpse of his handcuffed wrist which was bruising again. He sighed, setting the vials on the tray before taking out his wand to heal Lawson again, from a Healer perspective he hoped they could remove the handcuffs soon, his health was so poor he bruised too easily to be tied down. He was asleep before Michael had moved onto the next patient, they had to give him a powerful Sleeping Draught so he wouldn't wake up screaming again, thrashing about was pretty much the worst thing for his wound.

He skipped Albus as Abby was already giving him his and he'd done Antonius before Lawson, instead he moved on to Koray. The Astronomy Professor was starting to get better, he woke enough to take his potions before drifting back to sleep anyway. Byron was despondent as ever as he took his, Michael could only hope getting new prosthetics from the Ministry – which should be soon – so he could move around would help his mental state. He moved onto Latimer, giving him potions was trickier since he was being kept in a coma for the time being and needed oxygen for his injured lung.

"Hey!" Hogan barked abruptly and Michael looked up to see the old Healer approaching, Michael would say he was scowling but that seemed to be his normal expression, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Giving Latimer potions to keep him alive and recover?" Michael answered what he felt should be obvious, feeling immediately irritated at Hogan's confrontational tone.

"Oh really? Because I don't see anything on that platter to bolster his immune system."

"Um… He doesn't need them?" Michael pointed out in confusion, "Unless the injury calls for it, usually the only people who need them are vulnerable people like the very young, the very old or those with pre-existing condit-"

"Which Latimer _has_ ," Hogan interjected, gesturing to Latimer's pockmarked face, "Dragon Pox can flare up when the immune system is compromised and he's had a very aggressive strain of it, he needs to be on Immuno Boosters from the get-go."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Michael admitted, feeling suddenly guilty, "Tabitha didn't mention that."

"She probably assumed you knew, it's very basic stuff," Hogan criticized as he took the potion tray off him, "I'll take this and finish the rounds, you get the potion. And don't forget it next time."

"Okay," Michael sighed heavily and made to obey.

"Hey Michael," Antonius called out politely as Michael made to pass him on his way out, looking a little embarrassed, "I um… I kinda need the bathroom, may I go?"

"Sure, I'll take you as soon I'm done with this."

"Can't I just go by myself? I mean my leg seems okay."

"No, it's best to wait for me," Michael insisted despite the disappointment in Antonius' face, "You need to be taking it easy."

"I guess," Antonius sighed unhappily, not unlike Michael just had but even if his leg _seemed_ okay to him it certainly wasn't well enough for him to be walking around unaided.

Michael left him to it and headed down to the basement where the potion supplies were, suppressing a yawn as he went into the comforting darkness. He didn't know why sleep had suddenly decided it hated him but it definitely hated him, he wished he could take a Sleeping Draught sometimes but he needed to be alert for the injured.

He looked through the supplies they had and found the right one, they didn't have the largest amount of it but they had some. He took enough for a large dose to compensate for any he might've missed before going back upstairs, returning to the makeshift Infirmary just in time to hear a thud.

"Whoa! Antonius, be careful," he heard Hogan's voice as reentered the room, seeing the Healer helping the boy up off the floor, "You need to stay in bed, if you want to go somewhere you need someone to help you."

"But I don't… I don't understand," Antonius stammered out in confusion, looking anxious as Hogan helped him back into bed, "My leg, it just… it just gave out when I stood up?"

"Yeah, it'll do that."

"But why? Why would it do that? I thought it was better, I mean it doesn't hurt or anything and you didn't cut it off," Antonius questioned, only looking increasingly confused as Hogan's expression became more grim, he sat down carefully on the edge of the bed so he could look Antonius in the eye, "Shouldn't it be better? When is it going to get better? Because I need to be able to move, I have to be useful…"

"It's not going to get better," Hogan told him, his tone softer than usual but his words no less blunt and Antonius' dark chestnut eyes bulged in surprise, "That's why I wanted to amputate your leg in the first place, a prosthetic would've let you do all the same things as before but your real leg is now limited. More broke in your leg then just the bone and we can't fix it."

"S- So I c- can never w- walk again?" Antonius asked, his voice suddenly hoarser as the choked words passed his lip, quivering from holding back tears.

"Not without support, your injured leg can't support your weight anymore," Hogan explained and Antonius hung his head, blinking back tears, "You'll still be able to move around, when you've recovered a bit more we can get you used to crutches and as long as that goes well you should be able to adapt to a cane."

"A cane? L- Like I'm an ol- old man?" Antonius wondered, wiping at his eyes but failing to hold back tears while Hogan glanced briefly at Michael who averted his eyes ashamedly, "I d- don't w- want to h- have a cane, I w- want to b- be u- useful, I w- want to w- walk…"

"I'm sorry," Hogan said gently, putting a comforting hand on Antonius' arm as the child buried his face in his hands, small shoulders starting to shake from his sobbing.

Unable to take it anymore, Michael retreated to the kitchen. He put Latimer's potion down and leaned on the table with his elbows, allowing him to bury his own face in his hands. Was this his fault? His instinct had just been to preserve his friend's leg, as long as he had it then it could get better. That was the hope anyway, even though logically he knew it shouldn't work like that. Or he should know, until Hogan said that he just kept irrationally assuming that Antonius was going to get better.

"What are you doing now?" Hogan demanded and Michael looked up sharply to see him entering, his expression disapproving, "Hiding out in the kitchen like a coward?"

"Hey, you have no right to call me a coward!" Michael shot out, instinctively defensive.

"Why not? I'm not a coward," Hogan pointed out, crossing his arms, "You know part of being a Healer is having to look people in the eye and give them bad news, especially if _you're_ the reason they're getting the bad news."

"I know," Michael muttered and averted his eyes from Hogan's commanding cyan ones, he always seemed so much stronger despite being shorter and scrawnier then Michael.

"You also can't deprive people of their potions just because you're trying to avoid others."

"I _know_."

"Do you?"

"It's been five frickin' minutes, cut me some slack!" Michael shouted at him angrily, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"No," Hogan stated bluntly and continued before Michael could hurl abuse at him for how irrational he was being, "Do you know the difference between a Medi-Wizard and a Healer?"

"Um…" Michael managed in surprise, taken aback by the random and very basic question, "Well-"

"A Medi-wizard patches people up but a Healer actually makes people better," Hogan explained seriously, "Which is it that you want to be, Michael? Because you'd make a good Medi-Wizard already, you've proved on numerous occasions already that you're perfectly good at patching people up, I'd even go as far to say you have natural talent and skill, especially for your age."

"You really think-"

"Shut up, I'm not done," Hogan cut him off briskly, holding up his hand and Michael went silent, "If you want to be a Medi-Wizard you're good, _however_ if you want to be a Healer then you have a lot to learn. Healers are the ones the patched up people get passed onto, you have to think about the long term care that'll get them better not just what fixes them up in the moment, that includes things as basic as knowing to include Immuno Boosters in a treatment plan for a Dragon Pox survivor and as difficult as having to decide whether it's better to amputate a child's limb or not. I'm not sure you have what it takes if you want to be a Healer."

"So what? Just because I make a few mistakes you think I can't do it?" Michael snapped defensively.

"No, the reasons _behind_ the mistakes makes me think you can't do it," Hogan countered as he picked up Latimer's potion but seemed unusually and determinedly non-argumentative today, "And there's nothing wrong with being a Medi-Wizard, it's just a different job with a different mindset. Your aunt was essentially a Medi-Witch and that was fine for her, she was capable of more if she had to but she preferred just patching people up. I'm the opposite, I can patch people up but prefer to see things through to the end. I don't know what you prefer, I don't know if even _you_ know what you prefer but I think it's something that you should think about."

On that note, Hogan turned on his heel and headed back to give Latimer the potion while Michael was left alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"So the good news is that he doesn't have any violent crimes on his record so he's low-risk," Hermione explained when she got back to Scorpius, "That just means the Ministry hasn't much reason to object to his being here if he's not deemed much of a threat, however he's still only eighteen months into a twenty-five year sentence so they're likely going to prefer a reduced sentence instead of a full pardon."

"Well that seems fine," Scorpius shrugged it off dismissively as she looked through her parchment, nodding in acknowledgement.

"The plan today is to get a preliminary statement from the convict and the Healers, proper more detailed statements will need to be taken by the investigators at a later date but this should be enough to brief said investigators. If you could be there that'd be good since I've kind of placed him in Gray's custody from a legal perspective, you have some seniority here."

"Sure," Scorpius agreed, joining her as she got to her feet.

"H- Hey y- you're from th- the Minis- Ministry and all, righ- right?" Lamb wondered as he approached, fidgeting nervously as he did so, "I- I mean I- I'm sorry t- to interrupt but I- I jus- just have a qu- quick question if that's- that's okay?"

"What is it?" Hermione asked briskly, Scorpius had to wonder if she was always this severe because she reminded him far more of Maurice then either of her own children.

"I- I just erm… I mean, m- my daug- daughter is with her gr- grandparents and I- I worry ab- about them be- being in the open n- not in a safer place," Lamb stuttered out, though his wrist wasn't twitching like it did normally, "So I- I just won- wonder if l- like the Min- Ministry c- could en- encourage them t- to go to a shelt- shelter, I don't- I don't know if they do th- things like th- that?"

"Unfortunately we don't, it's not a forced evacuation by any means. Anyone who wants sanctuary is welcome but they do have to _want_ sanctuary of their own volition, if you want them to join a shelter you'll have to convince them yourself."

"R- Right, I un- understand, th- thank you f- for your t- time."

"Do you have any advice for convincing people?" Scorpius asked while Lamb shuffled away, he was also curious about this as he still wanted his parents to take shelter.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, seeming a little taken off-guard by the question but quickly recovered, "If you'd like I can take you to one and you can have a look around, if you have a better understanding of what it's like you might do better at convincing them of the benefits but it really depends on what their issue is."

"I think I'd like that," Scorpius agreed, not seeing what he had to lose by this point by checking it out.

"We can go there after the interview then," Hermione confirmed as they headed outside, Scorpius held out his hand for her to apparate him and she blinked in surprise, "You still can't apparate?"

"No," Scorpius sighed unhappily, eying the ground in humiliation as he felt his cheeks redden. He'd been trying to practice it recently as per Varanian's request but to no avail, not even another splinching. Mercifully, Hermione let the topic slide as she apparated them back to the Embry's but he wanted to change the subject all the same and it was an important one, "Did you ever find out Rojer's address?"

"Ah sorry, I keep forgetting," Hermione admitted as they approached the door, Scorpius feeling brave enough to look up again now the subject had changed and thought she was looking a bit peaky, "I'll get it when I take you to see a shelter later."

"Thanks."

Later actually turned out to be much sooner than expected. After they were let in, Michael informed them Lawson was still unconscious from a powerful Sleeping Draught so it'd be a couple more hours before he could wake for an interview. Since they couldn't speak to him, it made much more sense to simply shift around their plans to go to the shelter first and interview later. Seemingly not one to waste time, Hermione took him back outside and disapparated them both.

They reappeared in a perplexing place, Scorpius wasn't sure whether they were in a room or a cave. It was far too perfect a rectangle for it to be naturally occurring but the walls were clearly far too rough for them to be built, there were thin strips of florescent lighting illuminating them but the floor was as uneven as a seaside cavern. There weren't however any doors, windows, corridors leading off nor was there anything actually in the room. He tried to be baffled but Hermione was already guiding him forwards, having not let go of his wrist from the apparation.

"Just like Platform Nine and Three Quarters," Hermione offered as the only explanation without letting up her brisk walk towards what he could only presume wasn't a solid wall, they strode through and Scorpius found they were in a similar much smaller room except this one wasn't so empty, "Hey Devin, I'm back again."

"Hey Hermione, short time no see," a large dark-skinned wizard – presumably Devin - sitting behind a desk and sheet of glass greeted her pleasantly, he was to the left and to the right was an older witch while in the middle was a large black door with no handle. They both wore some kind of uniform, "You know the drill but in case your friend doesn't, I need to check your wands and you need to sign in as a visitor."

"Do as he says, Scorpius, security is very important," Hermione commanded as she withdrew her wand, putting it in a slot on the desk before moving over to the right where there was a book instead of a slot on the witch's side, "Hi again, Mallory."

Scorpius reluctantly took out his wand and put it in the slot like Hermione had, Devin had already removed hers and was looking it over. He then moved over to what was some kind of guest book, listing names, job positions – which made him think this was either Ministry personnel only or this was a Ministry personnel only entrance - and the times of entering or exiting. He started to fill it out with the provided quill, interestingly noticing the entry time set automatically before going back over to the left where Devin returned their wands. The witch then tapped the door and it slowly opened, Hermione bade the pair farewell as they went on through.

On the other side they entered into a corridor that looked more recognizable as a human construct, the fluorescent lighting strips continued but the flooring was now smooth, dark vinyl and the walls were concrete with thick black line painted across it. There were numerous corridors and doorways leading off, many with a combination of numbers and letters to mark them. It was also rather populated which Scorpius supposed shouldn't surprise him but it did all the same, people were coming and going through the various rooms and seemingly going about their business, many of them inclining their head politely to Hermione in passing.

"So this is the Ministry now the spies are gone," Hermione explained as she led him at a more casual pace through the complex, taking him down some stairs, "Obviously your parents wouldn't be in this specific area but the shelter part is further down, aside from government related things like here or the orphanage the other shelters are pretty much the same if your parents would prefer to not be near the Ministry. There's a dining hall for food, an infirmary for medical issues, a laundry room, public and private bathrooms, communal rooms and bedrooms - it's also worth noting food and water is provided for free, as is clothing if you require it and some other basic necessities, you can also opt in for house-elf cleaning. Many people have taken to organizing things for communal rooms, setting up 'schools' for children to keep up their education or 'cinema' screenings for people to watch - there's a really great community aspect as people try to create a sense of normalcy.

"This is the remnants of St Mungo's," Hermione continued as they came out in a similar corridor, except this one had a blue painted strip on the wall instead of black and had a distinct clean hospital smell, "Though we have muggle staff working here as well, its split into sections so staff leaving to deal with the emergency attacks don't detract from the care or resources normal people are receiving and there are plenty of medical supplies, potions, medicine and erm… and all that. If you just could excuse me for a second..."

With that she quickly hurried into a room marked as a toilet, Scorpius hoped she'd feel better soon. He let his eyes drift aimlessly around the corridor and noticed this one had chairs, he sat down patiently on one to wait. There was actually a map, he noticed, which he thought he'd seen upstairs as well. A magical one that seemed to cycle between the layout of the infirmary and a more general overview of the whole shelter, there was also a detailed drawing of a wizard who was seemingly napping in the corner with an annotation above reading: 'ask me if you need extra help finding your way!'

"You!" a vaguely recognizable voice shrieked and Scorpius jolted in surprise, turning to see a tall lanky man approaching that took him a second to place due to his drastically different attire.

"Abel?" Scorpius wondered, getting to his feet as the older man approached. His black wizard robes had been exchanged for muggle clothing, pastel blue pants and V-neck t-shirt over a white sweatshirt. He looked very out of place, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?! You went and told the Ministry I'm a lunatic who should be locked up!" Abel snapped shrilly, his tone irate but he looked more frantic. And upset, his slate gray eyes were red and puffy as if he'd been crying.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't do that…"

"Abel?" a concerned voice called an Abel leaped about a foot in the air, he was apparently pretty spry for an older guy. Scorpius looked beyond him and saw a man in a white coat – who he'd guess was a muggle staff member, probably a doctor - had wandered into the corridor, seeming to have emerged from the same place as Abel.

"I'm fine, I'm with someone!" Abel called back to him, waving briefly before his tone hushed as he hissed at Scorpius, "Quick, tell them you're with me or they'll drag me back in there!"

"He's with me, its fine!" Scorpius reassured the muggle, albeit a little more unsurely and the guy didn't look entirely convinced but didn't approach, "I'm just going to talk to him for a bit, if that's okay? He's a friend of a friend."

"Friend my ass, you're the reason I'm in this mess," Abel grumbled as Scorpius sat back down, pulling Abel into the seat beside him which seemed to have the muggle relax a little, "So you have to help me get out of here, you need to tell them I didn't try to kill myself."

"Um… but you _did_ try to kill yourself?" Scorpius pointed out, trying to piece events together and Abel shot him a glare.

"So what?! It's my life and I should be able to take it if I want to!" Abel snapped, his voice cracking and he wiped at his eyes, "Why are you people doing this to me?"

"Is it really so bad here? I mean, they put you here to help you, right?"

"Oh yeah, some help, _look_ at me," Abel complained and pulled at his shirt, "I look completely ridiculous, I'm supposed to be a wizard not a clown and I'm surrounded my muggles."

"I'm not sure you have the correct definition of clown there," Scorpius offered at the puzzling comparison, "And what's wrong with muggles?"

"Well for starters they always talk about weird stuff I don't understand like these phones that can smart or mobile or tell? Like what does that even mean? And they're always asking me stupid questions about magic like is Hogwarts school really a castle, what else would it be?! And then they accuse _me_ of not knowing about normal things, I'm the only wizard there. And this is just the other prisoners- I'm sorry, _patients_ but really we're prisoners, the staff don't let you be alone to make sure you don't hurt yourself and if you try to anyway then they tie you down like an animal! It's barbaric."

"I don't know, I mean it's their job to keep you safe."

"And they tell me I have 'Depression' and its severe enough I have to take medication to help me cope better, useless medication but they say it can take time to kick in. But do you know what muggles use instead of potions? Pills! You have to swallow these large hard lumps _whole_ , and I'm expected to it three times a day. Three! What kind of crazed lunatic thought choking people was the best way to make them better?! Seriously, it's the most uncomfortable thing. And they want you to talk about your _feelings_ , as if they actually think that'd help! Not to mention that the longer I'm here the more likely it is my parents disown me, I just want to go home and die in peace," Abel rambled, descending into a massive rant that culminated in him wiping at his eyes and letting his head fall into his hands, "I don't know if you heard about New Azkaban?"

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed grimly, wondering how Abel would react if he learned they tortured prisoners, "Sebastian lost his sister and mother."

"And a half-uncle," Abel added quietly, looking back up with his gray eyes shining, "How's Sebastian doing?"

"He was sad," Scorpius answered slowly, slightly surprised at Abel for thinking of him which he took to be a good sign, "Okay look, you wanted my help, right?"

"Yes!" Abel exclaimed enthusiastically, "You just have to tell them I didn't-"

"I'm not going to do that," Scorpius interjected quickly and the older man's face fell, "But if you go along with the muggles and let them help you then I'll do something else for you."

"You want me to go along with their insanity?" Abel scoffed with a scowl, suddenly bearing a sharp resemblance to his nephew.

"It's not insanity, it really can help and it really can get better- I know someone who helps people like this _and_ I know someone who recovered from something like this! What do you actually have to lose by trying, Abel? If you think there's no hope you have nothing to lose and if you have any hope you should reach for it with both hands, if not for yourself then for the people still alive who love you like your poor grandson."

"That's easy for you to say, and dumb since 'trying' is hardly a quantifiable measurement," Abel grumbled as his gaze drifted, not looking entirely convinced but not entirely dismissive either, "What can you give me anyway if you won't help me get out of here?"

"Well what do you want? There has to be something you want, I can bring Sebastian to visit you or when the war's over I have money or I can arrange for you to meet Va- Pip."

"Really? You can do that?" Abel asked, sounding like a small awestruck child as his head shot up.

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed though he wasn't sure how well that'd go, "You can't tell him that he's your nephew though."

"Why not?" Abel demanded in affront and Scorpius noticed Hermione leaving the toilets out of the corner of his eye.

"Because he doesn't know and it'd just upset him, he's been through enough," Scorpius informed him as he got to his feet to rejoin Hermione, "I have to go now but just think about it, okay?"

 _Ah Scor, you should always make time to help people_ , Calderon's voice said suddenly inside his mind, _That's what I did for Ticcy_

"Um… maybe I'll come back with Sebastian some time, assuming you're allowed visitors, you can tell me if you thought about it."

* * *

 ** _Thanks to_** _: laceyowens50, Colin Creevey, ChakraKitty, Reader and Cal for reviewing_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Will we see future Gray?_** _  
Yes, in fact you've already seen them in ones involving Cassia and will again_

 ** _Why did the aurora become so cruel? Torturing with crucio?/ The Aurors think nightmares makes you a Shadow? What's the logic there? They never had nightmares before?_** _  
Its not all Aurors its just the New Azkaban Aurors which is only a small amount of them, most of them aren't like this. Guard duty is seem as the worst task for Aurors, they signed up to fight Dark Wizards with many in particular signing up specifically for the war so being stuck guarding the very criminals you put away is something they collectively hate, even Harry views it as less important then the war so he tends to put the least important Aurors there, the ones who aren't as talented or who are difficult to work with etc the ones he perceives as least useful. All this just breeds resentment especially when the Aurors aren't even making much progress anymore so they started taking it out on the prisoners, Blythe (who you see briefly a few chapters ago) is the one who started with the Cruciatus Curse by suggesting if they can get information from prisoners it'll help with the war and get them off guard duty where they can make a real difference again. They are technically allowed to use Crucio for interrogation, not like this but Blythe insisted otherwise to try justify it and as said they're already ready to take it out on them, they use any excuse to accuse someone and Lawson's nightmares were just Arnett's reason because of how unusually frequently he gets them_  
 **  
 _Will sly find his daddy again?/WILL Sly meet Lawson again?_** _  
Too spoilery to say_

 ** _What the Heck is JackOne doing with his/it's life? Wouldn't they be useful against things?  
_** _Jack/One made a deal with Gray that they help for a while then lay low for a while, they helped recently with the evacuation so they've been in their laying low phase right now. Remember not a lot of time has actually passed in-story so far, they'll definitely be back_

 ** _Why is Harry acting like such an infant?/ Why does every single adaptation of adult Harry basically validate the idea he sucks even more in adulthood?_** _  
Harry's trying to do the best he can but he's still a flawed person, its just my interpretation of him from the original books where he was also flawed but well meaning and I can only assume others had that interpretation too. People can change but that doesn't mean they always do or that they change as much as you'd like_

 ** _Why does Sal hate EVERYONE? Why does she hate even muggles who truly never hurt her?_** _  
It really comes down to her upbringing, she was raised in a cell by a pure blood supremacist otherwise completely cut off from the world. Sal has always had an inferiority complex to Calderon (you see this way back in the first book when the boggart reacts to her) because of how he was favored by their parents and she was just in his shadow, while he rejected it she leaned into it out of desperation to earn their love. They both believed their parentage would have the world against them and whereas Calderon felt it was deserved due to their parents crimes so changed his identity to live amongst them, Sal felt it was unfair and refused to assimilate so instead just lived on the outskirts of society plotting and angry at the world for yet again making her isolated, yet again she's just in the shadows. Living amongst people, Calderon saw the good in them solidifying his belief in the good while Sal did not, instead she just saw the doom and gloom headlines solidifying her belief the world is bad_

 ** _Who are oathan, vathan etc father(s)?_** _  
Rathan Loren was the father of Alzay Loren and she had four sons: twins Orous Lathan Knox and Maurice Sathan Rivers by Roman Rivers, Vathan Lestrange by Rabastan Lestrange and Oathan Loren by Pyrrhus Florian. Vathan hasn't really got any other family but Brutus Ashain took him in after he was orphaned so he's kind of part of the Riddle family, Oathan through Pyrrhus is related to the muggles who abused Scorpius as well as to Xerxes Seneca and his whole brood_

 ** _If Harry saw James at the next battle, would he hesitate?_** _  
Yes_

 _ **Will Lawson get justice?**  
Too spoilery to say_

 _ **How does Sal plan to ensure she doesn't Accidently kill Omega during an attack?**  
She magically checks an area before destroying it_

 _ **Did Lazarus ever get better?**  
Nope, he's still in a coma_

 ** _Does Brutus still love/ want to marry Sal?/DOES Brutus still love Sal and want to be with her? Is there a difference between want and have with him? Does he want both?  
_** _Brutus does still love Sal but he doesn't want to be with her or marry her anymore, he made his choice at the end of his last book and he'd make the same one again despite his feelings for her_

 ** _Are the malfoys seriously stupid enough to think the shadow master has no problem with them?/ ARE the Malfoys seriously that stupid? They lost their patriarch to Sal and they STILL think they're totally okay? What gives?_** _  
You have to remember, they don't know all the details you do. From your perspective it may be obvious but they know far less about Sal and the series' events then you, they're either murky on details or outright ignorant of things. Especially Draco, Narcissa's being a bit stubborn but he doesn't even know his parents were aware of Sal's existence let alone feel she'd have much reason to target family she's never met, from his perspective going with the people fighting her is the thing that seems likely to put a target on their back rather than a safer option for those already a target. On top of that, its not like they have much faith in the Ministry to keep them any safer then they would be alone_

 ** _How can Sal be ok with harming kids in anyway?_** _  
A combination of basically feeling her cause is more important in their health/lives and that if she had a lousy childhood, why shouldn't others? The ends justifies the means pretty much for her and the connection to the Specters makes her naturally feel more disconnected_

 ** _Would Sal be less unhinged if Calderon were still around?_** _  
Yes_

 ** _If Calderon magically came back to life tomorrow what would Sal say to him?/ What WOULD they say to each other if Calderon came back?  
_** _She'd probably just hug him, they'd both cry and apologize for killing each other_

 ** _wtf is Sal/shadows end game here?_** _  
Sal doesn't intend to destroy the whole world, she's being more destructive to England then she usually is because she's pissed. Normally they cause destruction but also take over, enslaving muggles and forcing wizards to follow their regime, if there's anything left of England by the time she calms down she'd do that with them too. Her goal is world domination, then she won't be inferior to anyone anymore and would finally be part of the world, a better world of her own design_

 ** _The reason why everyone is going nuts over Oathan is because he can destroy souls but- can't One as well?_** _  
Yep_

 ** _Are the italics future visions? Or something actually happening? And if it's something happening, when did Oathan wake up?_** _  
They're flashfowards to potential futures that Molly's seeing not things actually happening_

 ** _What will happen with Sebastian if they can't fnd a family for him?_** _  
In the short term, he just gets to stay with Gray_

 ** _Mrs. Koray was right after all and Azkaban IS being suspicious? Wtf is she doing not doing something about this? Why didn't she send literally anyone else to look into it?_** _  
Mrs Koray was right and she did actually do her best to look into it, despite being his boss she'd need Harry's permission to get into the prison as its deemed a safety risk for non-Aurors so they need his approval which he refused to give. She does have a whole department to run (which she is actually only Deputy Head of, Hermione is the actual Head and she was just covering) besides the Aurors and didn't have much to go on to press the issue above everything else going on, its not like she knew they were torturing them or Harry would've taken it more seriously but he didn't, he figured it wasn't important and the Aurors were just slacking on reports no one cares about anyway. This is really more on Harry then her_

 ** _Why aren't they sending more?! Is Gray serious?! Just two people sent to a danger zone?_** _  
They're just there scouting, scouting groups tend to be small. Plus as far as everyone knew Sal's attack was over_

 ** _Is Scorpius serious?! He doesn't care?!_** _  
It's not that he doesn't care, he just was initially skeptical and continues to be wary of a convicted criminal. He doesn't approve of torturing prisoners but that doesn't mean he's overjoyed to have to take one in, their goal is stop the Shadows after all not fix the Ministry_

 ** _Is it at all possible for Slytherin's descendants to live peacefully in the UK if Sal loses? Or does she have to win for them to live good? If they can't live good, what would likely happen to them? Just imprison them for bad family?_** _  
That is the question, isn't it? I don't think it's one I can answer but I will elaborate on some things as its food for thought. For starters, Lazarus and Omega were NOT born in Britain, you think Sal (who incidentally hasn't spent that much time in the UK) would be dumb enough to let her kids be born anywhere they'd show up on records? They've spent most of their time in Greece (which Sal took over early on in their lives) and have no record of birth outside of Sal's world, they'd be entitled to British citizenship through their father but its not like they're officially locked in or even known about yet. So they wouldn't have to let them live amongst them, it wouldn't be hard for them to quietly disappear and hide their identities, be given new names like Calderon or live outside of society like Sal… What even is classed as a 'good' life for them? Who are they even living with if Sal loses? I also will say they can't imprison them, they haven't committed any crimes and are three_


	29. IIX: Stabilizing

_**Thanks so much to:** laceyowens50, Colin Creevey, Guest, John P and Uzami Kisaragi for reviewing!_

 _ **Author's Note:** Well Happy New Year everyone. Now I don't usually like doing this because I feel it comes across as just making excuses but I feel like I owe an explanation for the lack of updates, they were sporadic last year and non-existent the past few months. The thing is last year was a very bad year for me, among other things all of my surviving grandparents died and just when you thought this year would be better, among other things we get a notice our landlord is selling the house so we're being kicked out. And you may be thinking 'well, so what if your life sucks?' and unfortunately sometimes it just bleeds into my writing, not only have I just not felt much like writing but I haven't even been thinking about because I've had so much other stuff on my mind. That doesn't mean I'm giving up, in fact if I was going to give up on this series then I'd post a final author's note with information on what would happen so at least people would have closure, but it's why updates have been sporadic and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future so you have fair warning. I sincerely am sorry for the inconvenience, am incredibly thankful to anyone still reading this and I hope you're all having a better life then I am right now  
_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _Does she (Sal) still love him (Brutus) or is she just pissed off at him?_**  
 _Both_

 _ **Will they (the Malfoys) ever know the truth about Lyra?** _  
_Maybe_

 _ **What happened to Daphney?**  
She fled the country when the war heated up in hopes of staying out of it  
_

 _ **Will we see her (Daphne) again or is she just gone out the series?**  
Possibly but probably not, I wrote myself into a weird corner with her because I give my characters a lot of backstory and if she shows up again I can't really not address it without it seeming weird but she's so minor that I also can't really address it without it seeming weird so... yeah, she's not likely to appear unless I figure out a way around it all  
_

 _ **How long is it likely to take (to arrest Arnett)?**  
Not that long_

 _ **Why is Scorpius still looking into shelters for his parents?**  
Because he wants his family to be safe  
_

 _ **Does he (Scorpius) really think he can convince them (his family)?**  
He isn't certain whether he can convince them but he's hopeful enough he try  
_

* * *

Scorpius felt uneasy after hearing Calderon's voice and being reminded of his cousin's penchant for helping people, just how much influence did he have on him? He knew he'd called Varanian 'Pippy' that one time and Calderon's unease had bled into him when he'd spoken to Brutus but… well, he didn't _not_ feel like himself right now. Maybe he was just overthinking it, he'd just add it to the ever-growing list of things he really needed to speak to Rojer about. Hermione didn't seem concerned about it – not that she'd have any reason to, he was quite sure she had plenty of other things on her mind – and made to continue showing him around, leading on through the remnants of St Mungo's where they were occasionally passed by others.

"Right, so w- Oh, hey Bill!" Hermione changed her tune med-sentence as she spotted the familiar scarred face of Bill Weasley, carrying around his year-old recently orphaned grandson, Cres Ashain. The older man stopped at the sound of his name and changed trajectory to move over to them, "How's Teddy doing?"

"Thankfully he's been stabilized," Bill said with a look of relief and Scorpius blinked in surprise, he hadn't heard anything about Teddy – presumably they were speaking of Teddy Lupin after all – being injured. He hoped he'd be okay, they were cousins after all, "That and the promise to stay with him was the only reason I could convince Vic to get some rest, she's been beside herself. I'm just on my way back actually if you want to check in on him, someone just needed a quick diaper change."

"Maybe later, I'm kind of in the middle of showing Scorpius around right now," Hermione explained with a gesture towards him and Bill spared him a glance, "He wanted to see what it was like to convince his family to come here."

"Good luck with that," Bill offered, heaving a sigh and shifting the cranky-looking Cres to his other hip, the boy already had a mop of extremely dark auburn hair and the dark chestnut eyes common to his bloodline, "I've been trying to convince my family to join me here for weeks, they all – or at least the ones who aren't Gray or Ministry - feel safer in the Burrow."

"I can relate to that," Scorpius agreed dispiritedly.

"Well I best be getting back to Teddy," Bill continued as he made to leave, "Hope it goes well with your family, Scorpius, and I'll see you later, Hermione."

"Give Victoire our best!" Hermione called after him and he raised his free arm to indicate he'd heard.

"So what happened to Teddy? Caught up in the attack yesterday?" Scorpius guessed as they started walking again, Teddy and Victoire were both Aurors after all and Hermione nodded in confirmation, "Well at least he's stable and metamorphmagi are pretty resilient, hopefully he pulls through."

"Hopefully. His injuries weren't as severe as some of the others so I think he has a good chance, not that a good chance guarantees anything."

They continued onward and Hermione went back to showing him around the rest of the shelter, it was no Hogwarts and all rather basic but it wasn't bad. It was clean and the florescent lighting strips were surprisingly – and possibly magically – bright, they also had charms on some of walls to provide 'windows' to outside or rather the sky in a way akin to the Great Hall's ceiling to make the underground more comfortable. It was strange to see muggles and wizards walking openly in the same hallways together, he felt like his family would find it even stranger though. Not to mention the potential presence of the Aurors running the place.

"Do the Aurors run these shelters then?" Scorpius asked curiously and Hermione paused to give him an odd look.

"No," Hermione told him seriously and firmly, much to his surprise.

"Wait, so the Aurors _aren't_ in charge of running the shelters?"

"Of course the Aurors aren't! The Aurors are _not_ in charge of running the shelters, Scorpius, why would they be? They're responsible for catching dark wizards not keeping the populace alive, running the place would actively get in the way of their duties which are more important than ever in the war- I mean why would you think they run the shelters?"

"I guess I'm just so used to Aurors being my point of contact with the Ministry so I thought they might run the shelters, and we are in war time and stuff. They really _don't_ run the shelters?"

"No, Scorpius, the Aurors really do _not_ run the shelters."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded, feeling suddenly rather stupid, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I thought that."

"I don't know either," Hermione admitted recovering, "They play a small role in security but that's it, they're not even in charge of security. The shelters are run by the SI – the Shelter Initiative - a joint task force we comprised of both Ministry personnel _and_ muggles, Aurors had more to do with setting them up – mostly due to the extensive protective enchantments – not running them."

"I got it."

Hermione went back to showing him around, showing him one of the dining halls - which had numerous tables like a restaurant rather than long tables like in Hogwarts – and one of the communal rooms which currently had some kind of arts and crafts class going for kids as an example. She then took him down to the sleeping quarters to show off what the private rooms were like, these corridors were narrower and nothing but closed doors all marked with an assortment of letters and numbers. She stopped at '12-A' and opened it with a key after no one responded when she knocked.

"This is my parents' room," she explained as she led him inside, "Apparently they're not in right now but they wouldn't mind."

The room had a neatly made double bed with a chest of drawers at the end of it for storage, beyond that was a colorful rug and a small couch seating area. There was also a bedside table on either side which the Grangers had seemingly taken to personalizing, he saw a plaque for some dentistry award and several photographs including one of a couple he didn't recognize on their wedding day, several of a much younger Hermione as well as a few of Rose and Hugo. He saw Hermione sadly turn the photo of Rose away from her before heading over to a door, quickly showing him the bathroom which included a shower. It was all perfectly serviceable, of course it was still a far cry from the family mansion so he wasn't sure how his family would feel about it.

"And that's about it really," Hermione said as they exited the room, locking the door behind them, "Unless you really need to see more but I think you get the gist."

"I think I did, thank you," Scorpius offered, grateful even if he wasn't sure how much it'd help.

"Then I'll grab that man's address for you and we'll go see if the convict is awake yet."

"Sounds good."

* * *

"Sly! Time to get up!" Milton's voice called out, snapping Sly from his uneasy slumber.

"Why?" Sly sighed into his pillow, not making an effort to nor having any desire to move.

"Because if we don't leave soon we'll miss breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat, Sly," Milton insisted and Sly felt cold wash over him as the covers were pulled back, "Whether you're hungry or not, come on."

"Have I ever told you I hate you?" Sly grumbled unhappily but decided to oblige lest Milton try stripping him next.

"Yes, repeatedly," Milton confirmed without a hint of concern as Sly preceded to get dressed and allowed himself to be dragged down to the dining hall, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed and try to sleep. He had a newfound appreciation for sleep, you didn't have to think, "You have Potions first today, don't you like Potions?"

"No."

"Oh, I thought you did," Milton muttered, looking incredibly put out by this as they reached their destination, "Well personal enjoyment is irrelevant anyway, it could come in useful for the Soul Eaters so that's the important thing. Anyway I'll get the food, you find a table."

Milton wandered off to do just that and as tempted as Sly suddenly found himself to just ditch Milton, he knew the idiot would just come get him so he slumped down at the nearest table instead. He sighed, burying his head in his arms as the buzz of the crowded room's assorted conversations washed over his ear drums. He wished this was dinner so at least he could go back to bed after instead of having to face a whole day, he just wanted to be alone.

"Here we go!" Milton announced as he returned with the bowls of porridge, dropping it down with a loud clatter. Sly looked at the unappetizing slop that had been plopped down in front of him, it did nothing to invigorate his hunger, "Yum, it tastes really delicious."

"No, it doesn't," Sly stated factually, idly pushing it around the bowl with his spoon which made Milton look disheartened again.

"Look, your not-friends are there if you want to go sit with them. Don't you like bothering them?"

"No, I don't," Sly answered shortly with a spark of anger, he didn't want to anywhere near those people ever again. Milton sighed and it occurred to him that the older boy might have been trying to cheer him up by suggesting things he thought he liked, "Milton, are… are you trying to make me feel better?"

"Well, yes," Milton admitted as if it were obvious.

"Haven't we discussed enough about how you're not people? Because this is something only people can do and even people can't fix the fact my parents are dead, you're not even people and you suck so bad and are just so irritating I didn't even notice," Sly complained at him, jabbing his spoon at him before taking his first and probably last mouthful of porridge. He hadn't been kidding about not being hungry, "Why are you trying to cheer me up anyway? Doesn't that go against the Soul Eater code that seeks the zombification of all its members?"

"Because I need to be a good mentor and even a not-people can see you're not yourself lately, you were better when you were yourself," Milton explained pitifully, pushing his own spoon around the porridge, "My mentor wasn't very good so I'm trying to do better, Soul Eaters should always strive to do better."

"Let me guess, your mentor used to touch you in a bad place?"

"Erm no, he just liked to practice torturing me."

"Oh Milton," Sly sighed, dropping his spoon to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"I mean it worked out," Milton said quickly, "He went on to be a torturer so I'm sure the extra practice helped make him successful so he could best serve but… well, he was still pretty terrible."

"You know if you looked up 'sad sack' in the dictionary it would just say 'Milton' and there'd be a picture of your face."

"Really? That seems kind of unlikely."

"Well dictionaries are weird, did you know 'naïve' isn't in the dictionary?" Sly quipped sarcastically, picking his spoon back up so he could pretend he was eating.

"Is it because of the weird dots over the 'I'?" Milton wondered so genuinely Sly wanted to slap himself in more exasperation but he couldn't be bothered.

"Probably," Sly said instead to end the conversation, pushing the porridge around his bowl and idly wishing it would suddenly suck him in and drown him somehow. Being nowhere was better than being anywhere.

"So I've been thinking," Milton spoke up again and Sly sighed, missing when Milton would just shut up, "About the whole favorite color thing and I believe I've come to a conclusion on which I like most."

"Don't strain yourself."

"Pink is my favorite color."

"Milton, no," Sly told him, dropping his spoon and actually looking up at him, "Pink isn't allowed to be your favorite color."

"What? Why not?" Milton wondered in confusion.

"Because only girls are allowed to like pink, everyone knows that."

"Well I didn't! Choosing a favorite color is such a complex process," Milton sighed in exasperation, "How many more arbitrary rules are there?"

"None, you just can't pick pink if you're a boy," Sly insisted, picking up his spoon again and settling back into his bowl-gazing position, "There's nothing complex about it, long as you're a _real_ person."

"Hey Sly," a familiar voice greeted him pleasantly.

"Fuck off," Sly complained as Davin approached alone, he wasn't in the mood for these people, "Quick, Milton, say something insulting so he'll go away."

"You're a disgrace to the Soul Eaters and you should leave," Milton offered and Sly gave him an exasperated look as Davin continued to approach unfazed, "What?"

"That's your idea of an insult? Really?"

"What's more of an insult then accusing someone of failing to be a good Soul Eater?" Milton wondered with irritating sincerity, Sly sighed as Davin reached them. He just could not be bothered right now.

"Fuck off, Davin," Sly reiterated, realizing his own hypocrisy with how they frequently shooed him but hoping Davin was too stupid to call him out for it, "I'm leaving you alone like you always wanted, what more do you people want?"

"Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your parents," Davin offered gently, though Sly still felt as if he'd had cold water slung into his face for how unexpected that was.

"As _if_ ," Sly snarled nastily, knowing that Davin hated him and oh yeah, his brother was one of the highest ranking Shadows. For all he knew, Stephan could've been the one who killed his parents. He and Cyrus had probably celebrated and laughed and joked, Cyrus had never sounded happier. Stupid sadistic douchebags.

"I mean it," Davin insisted, forceful despite his delicate voice that was in dire need of a dose of puberty, "I know we've had our differences but I'm an orphan too-"

"So are most people here!"

"Yeah but I actually knew my parents, and I know how much it hurts to lose them," Davin continued softly, his eyes sad, "I wouldn't wish that pain on you, Sly, even you don't deserve that and I'm sure your parents didn't deserve to die."

"They _didn't_. My father was the best, do you hear me? He was the very best…" Sly told him fiercely, trailing off as he felt his voice cracking and had to take second to swallow that lump while his eyes batted off tears. Never let anyone see you're weak, "The Shadows were fools to kill him, I'm just saying."

"They were fools to kill a lot of people," Davin muttered almost to himself before speaking up again.

"You can't call the Soul Eaters fools!" Milton spluttered out in shock, "If the Masters hear you talk that way…"

"Then don't tell them," Davin told him dismissively before turning back to Sly, "Anyway, if you need to talk or there's anything I can do to help then just let me know, okay?"

"Oh please," Sly scoffed bitterly, "You couldn't even get me a fucking newspaper, let alone make up for the fact that everyone I ever cared about is dead! Leave me alone, Davin."

"As you wish."

* * *

They did just as Hermione said, returning back to the Ministry section where she took him to some kind of record room and retrieved the address for him. Scorpius felt rather relieved to have it as Hermione led him back the way they'd came, now the option was at least open to him whenever he – and probably Lamb, Scorpius would need someone to apparate him there – had some free time. He felt a bit nervous too, he was sure whatever Rojer had to say would be useful but that didn't mean it would be exactly what he wanted to hear.

After that, they left the same way they'd arrived and she apparated them back to the Embrys. They headed inside and Scorpius was pleased to see that Lawson was indeed awake, sitting up and seemed to be talking to Albus and Abby. He was not so pleased however to see the sorrowful look on Antonius' face, his shoulders were slumped and whatever Sebastian was saying to him didn't seem to be doing anything to improve his mood.

"Hey Anton," Scorpius offered as he approached the boy, giving him what he hoped was an encouraging smile which had his massive dog wag her tail anyway, "What's up?"

"I'm going to have to use a cane to walk," Antonius said sadly, not even trying to look at him.

"Oh… Well there's nothing wrong with using a cane, my grandfather used to have one with his wand build into it and he didn't even need a cane!" Scorpius told him brightly, trying to cheer him up though Sebastian made frantic hand moves suggesting that had been a bad idea.

"I'm not a grandfather, Scorpius! I'm only almost _twelve._ "

"Sometimes when I was younger then twelve he would let me play with it, I always thought it was cool," Scorpius offered desperately, realizing how pathetic that sounded and feeling rather like he was just making it worse, "My point is that it's not the end of the world, you can still walk and it's not like anyone's going to think less of you. In fact, canes look pretty sophisticated so I'm sure lots of girls would like that. It'll be fine, just takes some getting used to because it'll feel weird at first but everything's weird at first."

"Thanks," Antonius muttered, not looking the slightest bit cheered up and Sebastian was rubbing his forehead.

"I ran into your grandfather, by the way," Scorpius said to Sebastian, deciding he should let him know about Abel and the boy's head perked up though his expression was worried.

"Does he have a cane?"

"Erm… no. He is being treated by muggle doctors though who are trained at dealing with people like him, and they're making sure he can't hurt himself."

"Well that's good," Sebastian gave a relieved sigh, "Even though I bet he hates it."

"He does but maybe that'll change," Scorpius offered optimistically, "And you should be allowed to visit him at some point if you'd like."

"That'd be nice."

"Here, Anton, your potion," Michael interjected as he walked over with a tray of multi-colored vials, handing one to the despondent child who drank it obediently.

"How's Latimer?" Scorpius asked in concern and was given a fierce glare.

"He's stable, I've been giving him the right potions!"

"I erm… never thought you didn't?" Scorpius pointed out, a little confused by Michael's reaction and even Michael looked like he regretted snapping, he also looked tired.

"Sorry."

"Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine!" Michael barked, jolting back to anger again.

"Do you have Al's potion there?" Abby inquired, peering around the tray and picking up a thin vial of pinkish liquid, "This one, right?"

"Right."

"You're rucky your financee cares so much," Lawson commented from the next bed over to Albus as Abby brought the potion over, Scorpius couldn't see Abby's face from his current angle but Albus' face went beetroot red.

"Abby's not my fiancée," Albus said quickly.

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're just friends," Abby agreed as she handed Albus the potion, her face was also flushed, "I don't know why you'd think that."

"Well-"

"How is Sequoia doing anyway?" Albus cut him off quickly to ask Abby.

"I don't know, I still haven't seen him," Abby admitted, looking even more embarrassed while Albus' eyes bulged.

"How can you not have seen him yet? He must be worried sick!"

"Yeah well, I'm just busy."

"With _what_?!"

"Hey Scorpius, we're going to question Lawson now," Hermione told him and Scorpius looked away from his friends to see she'd approached, he also noticed Michael had moved too and was now giving potions to Professor Koray.

"We are?" Lawson wondered in surprise.

"I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Scorpius offered to Antonius.

"Okay," he said disinterestedly while Scorpius joined Hermione and apparently Hogan at Lawson's bedside, Hermione flicked her wand with what he recognized as an anti-eavesdropping charm. He also noticed she'd picked up a quill and parchment in his absence, parchment secured by a clipboard that already had official looking writing on it.

"Sit back, it's bad for your injury," Hogan barked at the convict who had been trying to sit up straighter, Lawson jolted fearfully and lay back fidgeting instead. He glanced at Lawson's wrist shackled to the bed while Hermione looked through her papers briefly, Scorpius noticed his wrist was bruised, "Do we have permission to remove this yet?"

"Hm. I suppose," Hermione agreed as she scribbled something down, Hogan mouthed something that looked like 'about time' before tapping his wand to unlock the shackle and promptly heal Lawson's wrist. She conjured a chair for herself and unsure whether he should do the same, Scorpius decided to follow her example and do the same. Hogan continued to stand with his arms folded and his expression as grumpy as ever, Hermione cleared her throat and addressed Lawson, "So we're here to take preliminary statement from you, currently in the custody of Gray which is why Scorpius H Malfoy, a senior member of Gray, is here to oversee. Due to the convict's state of poor health, Healer Hogan Leebin is here to ensure his health for this interview, if at any time you feel the questioning is interfering with the convict's well-being then say so. I, Hermione J Weasley, Head of the Department of Law Enforcement, will be taking the statement. Do you understand?"

"Umm… Yes?" Lawson confirmed, looking rather nervous as Hermione scribbled something down.

"Can you give me your full name and date of birth?"

"Lawson Atoll, August 20th 1994."

"And can you confirm you are currently eighteen months into a twenty-five year sentence for production and distribution of illegal substances, and negligent homicide in the death of your daughter Whitney L Atoll?"

"Yes," Lawson affirmed again though his expression saddened, his one good slate gray eye also glanced off to one side briefly as if reacting to something but there was nothing there.

"And you have a younger child, a son, Sylvester S Atoll?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's enough control questions, you seem cognizant," Hermione decided, turning the parchment to a fresh one that seemed to have a lot more space on it, "Recently you claimed – and that claim was corroborated by trained Healers – that you suffered torture of the Cruciatus Curse at the hands of the Aurors guarding New Azkaban prison, is that correct?"

"Y- Yes," Lawson said for the fourth time though looked visibly more uncomfortable, to the point of actually shuddering and looking anywhere but at her.

"Could you tell us about this incident? And give any names or identifying descriptions of any of the Aurors involved."

"Will lhey be in trouble?" Lawson wondered, causing Hermione to look taken aback but she recovered quickly.

"If convicted, yes. Why?"

"I don't know," Lawson shrugged – earning a disapproving growl from Hogan – and ran a hand through his hair, his mismatched eyes shifting to the empty space again, "I neam, it's just weird. They're the goot guys not me- and they said I desderved it and-"

"You were already serving the sentence you deserved, torture on top of that is just an unnecessary cruelty which goes against the justice we believe in. They stopped being the good guys when they crossed that line," Hermione told him, her tone still firm like usual but he could hear the compassion bleeding through, "Furthermore, you're the _only_ prisoner who survived the destruction of New Azkaban so you're the only voice any of the dead have to speak out against any atrocities committed against them. Now isn't the time to be silent, Lawson."

Lawson's eyes shot back to her at the sound of the mention of his name, he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Yokay. So I guess it started when I had a mightnare…"

* * *

"Fuck!" Varanian swore as the bracelet he'd been trying to turn into a portkey blew up on him. _Again_.

He gave a cry of rage and threw the remnant as far as he could, feeling more magic surge out of him and hearing it clatter across the warehouse ground. He buried his face in his hands, full of a frustration and anger at his failure. Why couldn't he get the stupid thing to work?!

Well actually he knew very well why, it was incredibly intricate not to mention difficult and he was currently lacking the focus required. That didn't make him any less mad at himself however, and if he couldn't even do this then how did he did he expect to do any of the other eighty zillion things he needed to accomplish? He was only trying to recreate something he'd already done before!

" _I heard another explosion, does that mean everything's going well?_ " One offered tauntingly and Varanian glanced up to see them bending down to pick up the half-exploded twist of metal that had been a bracelet, they have Phased – the term coined for Specter travel – in.

"Leave me alone, your interruptions don't help," Varanian growled and twirled his wand to summon the bracelet to him as he didn't like One to see what he was working on, if he was smart he wouldn't even be hanging out with them but there was no space, like anywhere, just people asking him for answers he didn't have because it was well established that he was _not_ smart and- _Bang!_ "Oh for fuck's sake!"

" _Did you intend to blow that up?"_

"I just said your interruptions don't help!" Varanian yelled at them in frustration and let his head fall back into his hands again, he could still hear their footsteps approaching as he tried to take breath to calm down.

" _Like that was our fault_ ," One chuckled and Varanian lowered his hands again, seeing they were now leaning back against his work table and forced himself to look at what would've been his brother-in-law.

For an abomination of life and nature, they looked surprisingly normal. In terms of build he was very much like his son, Michael, tall and muscled with a square jaw though the resemblance ended there was Jack/One's hair was far shorter and much darker than his son. He had different eyes though, of course, the one visual trait he shared with his sister would be those striking sapphiric orbs except shadows flickered in his. He hated it but in some way it was fitting, darkness dancing in the dead eyes the Thorne siblings had shared because neither was alive now, not really. He wondered if their baby would have had those eyes too, he'd never know now.

"You could always take a break from failing and do, you know, the thing you're supposed to be doing for your end of the bargain," Jack's low voice rumbled as they folded their arms, his expression souring, "We've been holding up our end and then some."

"I told you already, we're waiting on the address from the ministry to speak to Scorpius' professor," Varanian stated dismissively as he reached for another twist of metal to try again, he felt like he'd been at it forever, "He's much more of an expert then I am and he isn't always busy losing the war."

"You always say that."

"It's not my fault the Ministry's slow at everything."

" _Or you're lying_ ," One shot out as he took back over the body they shared, switching to his higher voice, " _If you're not going to help us, why shouldn't we just devour your sweet, agonized soul?"_

"Go ahead," Varanian challenged unafraid, dropping the metal immediately to lock eyes with One who stepped back in surprise, "I can't stop you, tear the damn thing to pieces for all I care. But then Scorpius will never help you, nor will the Ministry, nor will _anyone_. And then you'll be just like you are, just like you've always been, just a shadow even in your own 'skin.' Is that what you want?"

Varanian didn't look away, daring him to it and was almost terrified to realize how much he _wanted_ One to do it. He really didn't care, not having to think anymore would be a relief and not having to feel would be a blessing, he would love to not have to exist anymore. The rational part of his brain knew One wouldn't though, the non-rational part of his brain wanted it be wrong _so_ badly.

" _It was just a suggestion_ ," One stated airily as they paced idly away, predictably dropping it much Varanian's disappointment. Disappointment? It was strange to realize he was more disturbed by his own thoughts right now then the soul-destroying shadow being, " _It's not like we're getting much out of these arrangement as of late, maybe refusal to aid you until you make some progress would be the better course of action in this scenario_."

"Really?" Varanian wondered disbelieving, "You think _not_ helping us is going to make us better able to help us separate you? You realize the war's what's in the way, right? The faster we end the more time we'd have for you."

" _We realize but I don't have a lot of faith in your ability to defeat the Shadow Master and you're one of the most powerful wizards I've met, yet you've got nothing on her. No one does, the only person who stood a chance is dead so you guys are screwed seven ways from Sunday."_

"Well if you have any suggestions then I'm all ears-" Varanian started before changing more irate mid-sentence as something re-occurred to him, "In fact, you can destroy souls! Why can't _you_ just beat her again?"

" _Because unlike you, I don't have a death wish_."

"Do you not have a life wish either or did you just give up on that? Give me a good reason why you can't."

" _Because you need more than the ability to destroy her soul, genius_ ," One snorted irritably as they crossed their arms, " _She's not just going to stand around and let us destroy her, nor are the rest of the Soul Eaters or the Specters. We have the power to destroy souls but our victims still have the power to fight back, for most it amounts to nothing but she's not most people. We wouldn't stand a chance and then she'd obliterate us. As much as we want to see her gone, I don't want to die_."

"What if we could incapacitate her first?" Varanian wondered curiously to which One gave a derisive snort.

" _As if you could do that_."

"It happened before!"

" _It happened because of Brutus, her lover and second-in-command. He then betrayed her_ , and then Ministry fucked up, _and now she's not going to make the mistake twice."_

"But what if there was some way to incapacitate her?"

 _"How?"_

"I don't know, it's a theoretical fucking question, One!" Varanian snapped and heard something shattering, One's eyes shifted in the direction of the sound's origin but he ignored it, "If there _was_ some way to incapacitate her, would you be willing to destroy her soul then?"

"Yes- _Maybe, it's still a big risk_ ," One answered over Jack's agreement, stroking their chin thoughtfully, " _We'd still be dead if it failed, what's in it for me?"_

"You mean aside from the death of the one person who could easily obliterate you?" Varanian half-asked, half-complained and One sighed.

" _Well when you put it like that it makes me sound petty_. We'd think about it. _We'd think more positively if you made any progress towards helping us_ , you know instead of failing horribly at whatever junk you're working at here."

"Well I'll think about it, won't I?" Varanian told them icily, catching their eyes once more before they Phased out of the room leaving him alone once more. He sighed and let his head fall back into his hands, he was just tired.


End file.
